Acceptance
by JasonMorganfan87
Summary: Sequel to 'The Forbidden' Gabriel and Sam have overcome the threat angels posed on Sam's life and now reside in Heaven, but things are far from ideal. Sam must overcome the severe prejudice the angels have against his kind, as well as contending with the loss of his brother and his growing powers. Can he overcome it all or is he doomed to live in misery?
1. Chapter 1

**Acceptance**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural or any of its characters.**

Lucifer strolled through Heaven towards Gabriel's 'house', for lack of a better term. Of course it wasn't really a house, but the room resembled one from the inside. Most angels, including archangels, only had either an office or a sitting room, depending on their ranks and needs, but Gabriel was different. He had Sam and he wanted something that at least resembled a family home.

Lucifer reached his brother and nephew's personal space and knocked on the door.

Gabriel opened the door to see his older brother. He immediately stepped aside. "Hey, Lucifer."

"Gabriel," Lucifer greeted before walking inside. He found himself in a spacious living room, even bigger than the one he had on Earth. There was a large white sectional couch with another matching sofa across from and a glass coffee table in the middle of them.

"I didn't know you were coming. I think I've seen you once in the month since we got here," Gabriel commented.

"Yes, well, it turns out that running this dad damned place isn't exactly easy. Plus I have to clean up all of Michael's messes. I'm reviewing the case of every angel that got sent to prison and trying to find every angel that left during his reign. Like Metatron. Apparently he took off not long after Dad did. There are a few others too," Lucifer said. He didn't intend to force anyone to come back, just to give them an option, much like he had with Anna."

"If you're reviewing prison sentences, I suggest starting with Gadreel. After all, his biggest sin was being tricked by you," Gabriel said before sitting down on the couch and propping his legs up on the table.

"Already in the works. You know, we could use you back in the fold. Can I get you to resume your archangel duties?" Lucifer asked.

"Maybe eventually. Right now, I'm still pretty sure that if I see Michael, I'll kill him. That's why I don't leave here often," Gabriel said. He hated his his oldest brother right now. Honestly, he wasn't sure he would ever stop hating him. The bastard set out to kill his son. He had and still was causing harm to both his boys. He'd broken up their family. Gabriel didn't think he'd ever forgive Michael for that.

Lucifer nodded that he understood. "Just try to remember that we did win."

"It's hard to remember that right now. I'm watching the misery in one of my kids. The other I can't see, but I know he's miserable. This place has become a prison to my son. So it's not exactly easy to see this as a win," Gabriel said.

Lucifer sighed and went over and sat next to his brother. "I had to, Gabriel. It was the only way to end it peacefully."

"I know. I'm sorry for getting pissed at you when you told me what you'd agreed to. I know it's not your fault. I was just pissed and you were the one that gave me the news," Gabriel said.

Lucifer nodded that he understood. "How's Sam?"

"I covered that with miserable, didn't I? He's not great. By the way, don't expect him to understand that this isn't on you. He does blame you for your choice. Honestly, he's mad at everybody. He's not good at controlling his anger. He takes it out on pretty much everyone around," Gabriel said. That was certainly what was going on now. Since they'd gotten to Heaven, his son had snapped on several occasions. Gabriel was trying to be understanding, but it was really starting to wear on his patience.

Lucifer chuckled. "I'd say he likely got that trait from me. Where is he anyway?" Lucifer wondered.

"I had him go for a walk. Told him he should get a change of scenery. It was either that or I kill him," Gabriel said. He wasn't all that comfortable with Sam strolling around Heaven without him, knowing most angels wouldn't accept him. Plus, Michael wouldn't dare hurt him now that Lucifer was in charge, but that didn't mean Gabriel wanted his hate around his son. But he couldn't keep Sam cooped up for all eternity. He was going to run into other angels eventually.

"Does he even know where anything is? What if he strolls into someone's Heaven?" Lucifer asked.

"I directed him to the garden. I think he'll like it there," Gabriel said.

"Everyone does. Well, I have to get back to work. I'll see you later," Lucifer said before standing up and heading for the door.

Xxxxxxxxxx

Sam found himself surrounded by trees as he continued to walk. He could only assume it was the garden. It certainly wasn't what he would've expected the Garden of Eden to look like. Then again, his dad had told him it looked different for everyone.

Sam stopped walking and took in his surroundings. His father was right, it was nice here. Well compared to everywhere else in Heaven, aside from his 'home'. Everywhere else was tense and uncomfortable for him. Even just walking here, he'd walked past about a dozen angels. They had all stared at him like he didn't belong. They hated that he was there.

Sam soon heard some rustling in the trees followed by a kind voice. "Hello, Sam."

Startled, Sam turned to see a man with a pair of weed whackers standing not far from him. "Who are you?"

"Can't you tell?" the angel asked.

Sam shook his head. "There's two much Grace here. I can feel it everywhere?"

"You can't differentiate. I'm surprised your father hasn't shown you how. I am Joshua," he said.

"I haven't told him about it," Sam said. He didn't talk to his father much since they came to Heaven. He didn't really talk to anyone, and when he did, he was usually unleashed his anger. That was why he spoke very little right now. His dad was putting up with the anger for now, but Sam knew his patience was dwindling.

"Meditation will help. It's a technique used to calm the mind. You should try it until you can learn to get used to the Grace around here," Joshua said.

"Why tell me that? Why talk to me at all. Every angel I've seen, aside from my father, Lucifer, and Cas look at me with either hatred or fear. Why don't you?" Sam asked curiously.

"You must understand that they've all been taught that nephilims shouldn't exist. That you are all dangerous. I know differently. I know you will not harm anyone here. I know because God assured me of such. He speaks to me at times," Joshua said.

"God talks to you?" Sam asked surprised.

Joshua nodded.

"Great. Do me a favor. The next time he calls, Ask him why he saw fit to destroy my life," Sam said resentfully.

"I can understand your anger, Sam. You're suffering. But sometimes things appear differently than they are. This seems like a punishment to you, but it was done to help you. I know you don't want to be here, but it's quite possible that it's the best place for you," Joshua said.

Sam laughed bitterly. "The best place for me. "Aside from less than a handful, I'm rejected by everyone here." It was ironic. The reason his father originally planned to bring him to Heaven was because he worried humans would persecute Sam on Earth, but it wasn't much different here. Angels were just as hateful as humans might one day be of him.

"For now, but everything is subject to change. I have no doubt that you'll give all of them a reason to change their opinions of you, even Michael," Joshua said.

"Yeah, if you say so," Sam said in a reluctant and annoyed tone before walking away.


	2. Chapter 2

Gabriel was walking by Sam's room and found his son sitting in the middle of the floor with his eyes closed. "Sam, are you okay?"

Sam opened his eyes and turned to his father. "Yeah, I was just meditating."

"Why?" Gabriel asked.

"The angel from the garden, Joshua, suggested it as a way to get used to all the Grace here," he said.

"Why didn't you tell me you were being overwhelmed by the Grace?" Gabriel asked. Thinking about it, he probably should've realized that his son would have trouble with it. Sam wasn't used to being around many angels at once. Now he was in close proximity of about a million of them. Gabriel supposed he didn't think of it because this hadn't been a problem with any other angel. They had all been around Grace since their creation.

Sam just shrugged in response.

Gabriel sighed. "Joshua is right. Meditation can help with it. It settles the mind and makes things less intense. It might help you in other ways too." Meditation helped with emotions as well. It helped to calm the whole body. Hopefully it would help with Sam's anger.

"I doubt that," Sam said, knowing exactly what he meant.

Before Gabriel had a chance to respond, he heard a knock at the door. Gabriel immediately left the room and went to the door. He opened it to find Castiel there. "Hey, bro. Come on in."

"Hello, Gabriel," Castiel said before walking inside.

"What have you been up to, little brother? I haven't seen you in a while," Gabriel said.

"Yes, I have been quite busy. I've had work with my garrison and Lucifer has also taken me on as an adviser," Castiel said proudly. There wasn't really any greater honor than working with an archangel so directly. Sure, he'd been doing so before, but it was different doing it in a official capacity.

Gabriel laughed. "How would you have reacted if someone told you a year ago you'd be doing that?"

"I would've found it implausible," Castiel said. There were no circumstances in the past where he would've considered he'd be here, proudly helping Lucifer with anything. In fact, he would've found the idea frightening. Now, things were looking much better than they had in the past. Lucifer hadn't been in charge for long, but he was already working to fix things.

Gabriel nodded. "I would've thought all our current positions to be, as you put it, implausible."

"There is something else I wished to tell you. I visited Dean yesterday," Castiel said.

"Uh, let's have this conversation later," Gabriel said. He didn't want Sam knowing anything about Dean. It would just make things harder for him.

It was too late. By then, Sam was standing a few feet behind his father. "You saw Dean?"

Castiel's gaze shifted to his nephew. "Hello, Sam. It's good to see you. How are you?"

Sam ignored the angel's inquiry. He was too focused on talk of his brother. "Is Dean okay?"

Castiel glanced over at his brother, silently asking if he should go on. Gabriel had just made it clear he didn't want Sam knowing about what was going on with Dean.

Gabriel nodded. It was too late to keep whatever Castiel had to say from Sam.

Sam noticed the exchange. He didn't comment on it, but inside he was bristling. He did not need his father's permission to hear about his brother.

"Dean had just finished up a hunt when I saw him," Castiel said.

"Was he okay? Was he hurt at all?" Sam questioned with concern.

"He looked well enough. There were some cuts and bruises that I healed for him, but nothing that doesn't usually come from hunting," Castiel explained.

"What about other than that? How's he dealing?" Sam asked.

"He says he's well. He asked about the two of you. I said you were well and then he asked that I go and not come back," Castiel said. He had to admit being slightly put out by Dean not wanting him to visit. He took it a bit personally until Dean told him that it was just too hard to be around angels when they got to see Sam and he couldn't.

"He asked the same of me. Don't take it personally, Cas. He just needs a clear break from all of us until he dies and comes here. It's the only way he can move on," Gabriel explained.

"There shouldn't be anything to move on from," Sam grumbled.

"Sam..." Gabriel started.

"It's not fair! I shouldn't have to wait until my brother dies to see him again! Why did Lucifer have to give in to Michael! He gave into the bastard! So did you! You agreed to all this! You should've told him no!" Sam yelled. Yes, he realized he was being unreasonable, at least where his father was concerned, but he was so angry.

Gabriel took a deep breath. It had been exactly like this nearly the whole time they'd been in Heaven and he was getting tired of it. He was very close to snapping at the kid.

"Now, you're even trying to keep me from finding out things about my brother! I heard what you said to Cas when you told him he'd seen Dean! You didn't want me to know about it! You have no right to keep things about my brother from me!" Sam continued angrily.

Gabriel took a couple of steps towards his son and spoke in a low, steely voice. "Listen to me carefully, Samuel. I have put up with more than enough crap from you in the last few weeks. I know that you're hurt and angry and I've tried to keep that in mind, but you need to realize that my patience has limits and you are very close to crossing them!"

"I am not a child! You can't talk to me like..."

"I will talk to you how I please! You wanna be spoken to with respect? Start deserving it! You wanna be treated like an adult? Same thing! Start earning it. Start acting like an adult instead a petulant child. Now you will not speak to me like this again! Am I clear!" Gabriel yelled.

Sam nodded, but the glare on his face made it clear that he was still pissed. "I'm going for a walk."

"That might be in your best interests," Gabriel said as his son brushed past him and Cas and left.

"Gabriel, I'm sorry. It is clear to me now why you didn't wish him to know that I'd seen Dean," Castiel said. He'd been quite stunned by his nephew's outburst. He knew Sam had a temper, but he'd never once heard him speak to Gabriel like that.

Gabriel sighed. "He's just so angry. And I don't blame him for being angry, but he's taking it out on everyone. I knew hearing about Dean would just make it worse."

"I can see your point. I believe it may have hurt Dean more to see me and hear of Sam as well," Castiel said.

"How is Dean really? I get the feeling you omitted some details," Gabriel said.

"Not from my conversation with Dean. It happened as I said. But I spoke with Bobby Singer soon afterwards. He tells me Dean is not coping so well. He's been on back to back hunts since you left," Castiel said.

Gabriel groaned. "Damn it, kid. Has he been reckless?"

"Bobby says he thinks Dean is being careful, but he hasn't been with him, so he doesn't know for sure. I believe he's doing it merely to stay busy, not to shorten his life expectancy," he said.

"I don't know about that. Cas, I know you've got a lot on your plate right now."

"Plate?" Cas asked confused before he got an annoyed look from Gabriel. "Oh, that is another expression then?"

"Yeah. It means you're busy. But I was hoping you could do something for me. If you can't, say so," Gabriel said in firm tone. He didn't want his brother to overwork himself and he knew he would if Gabriel asked him to.

Castiel nodded.

"Look in on Dean from time to time without his knowledge? I wanna know if he's being at all reckless," Gabriel said. If he was, Gabriel would make good on his promise to go down there and smack some sense into him.

"Of course. I was considering such a thing anyway," Castiel said. Dean had asked him to stay away, but he found that didn't like the idea of simply leaving Dean completely alone. Dean was his friend. Actually, since Gabriel considered him a son, he was more like another nephew. He couldn't just abandon him.

"Thank you. And I don't want Sam to know about it. As you just saw, it just makes it worse. He can't move on with constant updates about his brother, especially if those updates aren't good. Dean thought a clean break was best for him. Well, I agree, and it's also best for Sam."

"I understand. I will abide by your wishes," Castiel said.

"Thanks."

"I should go. I need to meet with my garrison," Castiel said before walking away.


	3. Chapter 3

Sam was still totally pissed as he roamed Heaven. What right did his father have to talk to him like he was an unruly eight-year-old, or to keep things from him about his own brother. He had no right. He was an adult. He deserved to be treated like that.

Sam's ire only continued as he walked and saw the looks of fear and hatred that continued to be directed at him by his 'family'. He'd finally had enough after one angel looked at him in a particularly scathing way. He stopped and glared back at him. "Hey! If there's something you want to say, do so already!"

The angel sneered at him in disgust. "How dare you speak to me, you disgusting abomination!"

Another angel quickly came over and took the other by the shoulder. "Vashti, you must watch yourself. You know you cannot use that word."

"I do not care about the Morningstar's rules, Adriel. My loyalty is to Michael, as should yours be. This thing here should not have even been allowed to remain living, let alone into our home," Vashti said in disdain.

"Well, I guess we agree on something. I never wanted to be here. Your best brother, Michael, insisted on it, so go blame him," Sam said with a glare.

"To keep an eye on you, or maybe even to plot against you. Maybe you ought to be careful when your sleeping. You may just find yourself executed like the monster you are!" Vashti said.

"Vashti, enough! We should leave," Adriel said as he tried to pull his brother away.

"No. I want this boy to know exactly what he is. He is trash. He is the product of an angel and a mud monkey. He should've been smothered at birth! Something I am sure will be rectified one day. You will be destroyed like you belong, you evil abom..."

"Now what is the ruckus here?" another voice said. It came from an angel who walked over and stopped right next to Sam.

"Nothing that concerns you, Balthazar," Vashti said through gritted teeth.

"Sure it does. We're all family, aren't we. Let me in on your quarrel. Perhaps I can help," Balthazar said.

"This creature is not my family," he growled as he pointed at Sam.

Balthazar shook his head. "Tsk, tsk, brother. That's no way to talk about your own nephew, is it? Shouldn't you know better not to pick on the little ones?"

Sam looked at the angel, Balthazar. He was torn between being grateful that he was defending him and annoyed at him for calling him a 'little one'."

"He is nothing but an abomination! One day Michael..."

"Michael got ousted for sheer incompetence. Learn to live with the fact that he's not head asshole anymore. Now he's just a regular asshole. Actually, not much different than yourself," Balthazar mused.

"Yeah, we all know you side with Castiel and that evil bastard, Lucifer, so it doesn't surprise me that you would defend this boy, but Michael will take care of all of them soon. He will restore Heaven to how it's supposed to be," Vashti said.

"Your more than welcome to live in that delusion if you wish, but you'll be disappointed," Balthazar said before slinging an arm around Sam's arm, surprising the man. "Walk with me, dear nephew. Let us catch up."

Minutes after being pulled away from the others, Sam pulled Balthazar's arm off of him. "Why'd you do that?"

"Truthfully, because Vashti's as arrogant dick who I've wanted to put in his place for a while," Balthazar said.

"Yeah, I can tell that much, but you could've gone at him over anything. Why did you defend me?" Sam asked.

"Because that's what family does, little fledgling," he said as they turned a corner into Balthazar's garrison.

Sam was confronted by a lot more looks of fear and hatred.

"Ignore them," Balthazar advised as he brought the kid to his room.

"I'm not a fledgling," Sam responded. He hated that damned word. Every angel who didn't call him an abomination, called him a fledgling. It drove him nuts. He wasn't a kid.

"Sure you are. You're tantamount to a toddler to us," Balthazar said as he led him into his room. "Make yourself at home."

"You didn't answer my question. Why did you defend me? Why don't you look at me the way the others do?" Sam asked. He'd asked Joshua the same question. His answer was that God told him he could be trusted. He doubted Balthazar had the same reason.

Balthazar closed the door and turned to him. "I'll be perfectly honest about it. I haven't been sure what to make of you. You are something we were all told shouldn't exist. But I trust Castiel. He vouches for you. That's enough."

"Well, aside from Cas, Lucifer, and my father, that makes a grand total of two who don't wish me dead," Sam said.

"Don't dwell on the rest of them. They're mostly self-righteous assholes," Balthazar said before going over and taking a seat on his couch.

"It's a little hard when I'm forced with them everyday," Sam grumbled. Of course, that was only part of why he hated there so much. He cold deal with it if he had Dean. His brother's absence left a hole inside him.

"You don't want to be here," Balthazar stated.

Sam laughed bitterly. "Gee, I don't know what could possibly make you think that. I'm around people who can't stand the sight of me and I can't even see my brother."

"Yeah, I'm sure it seems like some sort of steep punishment, doesn't it?" Balthazar asked.

"Isn't it? Isn't this really just Michael's way of punishing me for existing? He can't kill me so he'll make my life as miserable as possible," Sam said. It pretty much went without saying that he didn't think much of Michael.

"Yeah, you're probably right. It certainly sounds like something Michael would do. Of course, you're helping him with that," Balthazar commented.

"What?" Sam asked in disbelief.

"Michael's ability to make you miserable only works if you let him, which you have," Balthazar said.

"I haven't let him do anything! I didn't have a choice!" Sam yelled.

"You had no choice in coming here, but you can choose how you deal with it. You can sulk and act like you've been handed down a prison sentence or you can make the must of the circumstances that you've been thrown into," he said.

Sam laughed bitterly. "Make the most of it? That's your advice. Make the most of what. Being around a bunch of assholes that would see me dead if they could. They hate me here."

"Some do. Some are just afraid. They've heard the stories about nephilims. They don't know what to expect from you, and the fact that you're the son of an archangel makes it even worse. That's never happened before. You're a complete unknown. But you don't have to worry about them. They can't hurt you. Most wouldn't even dare speak against you," Balthazar said.

"The dick out there sure didn't have a problem with it," Sam grumbled.

"Vashti's an idiot. He thinks that Michael can protect him if he goes for all. As if Michael even would. His loyalty is to exactly one being," Balthazar said. Michael had once had a great deal of loyalty, but it went away when Lucifer was cast out and God left. "But most are smart enough not to antagonize you. You're the son of an archangel. That alone gives you a lot of power because we all know what the archangel's can do to us. That's aside from your own power, which I assume is great

"Whatever. It wouldn't matter if they were all the most welcoming. I could never be happy here, not without Dean," Sam said sadly.

"Have you tried or have you just decided you'll never be happy? Because if you decide to be miserable, I guarantee that you will be."

Sam didn't say anything more. He'd had enough, so just wordlessly turned and left the room.


	4. Chapter 4

Sam found himself sitting in the back of the Impala in one of his brother's dreams. He could've smacked himself upside the head for not considering this earlier. There was a way for him to be with his brother without ever having to leave Heaven. He could project himself into his brother's dreams, just as he did right after his dad took him.

Sam looked around. Dean seemed to be dreaming about being on the road together. Only this time, Gabriel was there as well. Sam could see the dream version of his father sitting next to him. Dean wanted the same thing he did. He wanted their family back. "Dean."

Dean turned around and took his hands off the wheel. Since it was just a dream, the car simply stopped, and both dream Sam and Gabriel disappeared. "Sammy? Are you really here?"

Sam smiled. "Yeah. I realized they can't stop it this way."

Dean immediately jumped in the back and hugged his brother. It had been really hard not being able to see him, and worse, knowing he wouldn't be able to again until he died. If he hadn't promised Gabriel, he probably would've killed himself by now.

Sam hugged him back. "I missed you so much, man. It's hard to believe it's only been a month."

Dean pulled away. "Are you okay. What's it like up there?" Dean asked.

"It's Hell, man. I can't go anywhere without getting looks from practically every angel I come across," Sam said.

"They're dicks. Don't listen to them," Dean said.

"They're not all bad, I guess. There are a couple who have been nice There's the gardener, Joshua. He was nice to me. He said it's because God talks to him and has told him I'm not a threat.

"Damn. So God actually deemed some angels worthy of talking to," Dean commented.

"As far as I know, it's just Joshua. There's also Balthazar. He's a friend of Cas'. He trusts him, so I guess he trusts me. He helped me when a couple of his dick brothers and I got into it," Sam explained.

"Good. I guess it's not all bad then," Dean said.

"Of course it is, Dean. You're not there," Sam said. Everything could be perfect in Heaven. The angels could all worship the ground he walked on, but it still wouldn't anything other than Hell to Sam because he didn't have Dean.

"It'll get better," Dean lied. If things for Sam were anything like they were for Dean, he doubted it would ever get even remotely better, but he was the big brother. It was his job to at least try to make things better for Sam, even if it was a lie.

"It doesn't look like it's any better for you. You're dreaming about the three of us as a family. You miss us," Sam said.

"Of course I do, Sam. You guys are my family. I'll miss you for the rest of my life. But that doesn't mean things can't get better," Dean said.

"I know when you're lying, Dean. You don't think it'll get better," Sam said. His brother was trying to make things better for Sam by lying to him, but Sam saw right through it. Dean was as miserable as he was and he always would be.

"Well, it won't if you come into my dreams all the time," Dean said. As much as he loved seeing Sam right now, this was probably a mistake. It would just make things harder for the both of them, and it might even get Sam in trouble with the dicks in Heaven.

"You don't want me here?"

"You know I do, Sam. Even if dreams are a poor imitation, I'm glad to see you. But I don't think it's the best idea. Gabriel doesn't know you're here, does he?" Dean asked.

"I'm sure he does now," Sam said. His father had been able to tell the last time he'd dream walked Dean. He'd also been able to tell when Michael and Raphael had gotten into both his and Dean's dreams. It was likely he knew now as well.

"But you didn't tell him. That means even you know this wasn't a good idea," Dean said.

"What's wrong with it? We can see each other whenever we want this way," Sam argued.

"Like I said, it's a poor imitation, and neither of us can move on this way," Dean said. Truthfully, he doubted he could move on, but maybe Sam could with Gabriel's help, and even if he couldn't, this wasn't really a solution. Dean felt it would just make things worse.

"You wanna move on. You don't want to see me, like you didn't want to see Cas," Sam said with hurt," laced in his voice.

Dean slammed his fist angrily into the back of the driver's seat in front of him. "No, Sam! Of course I want to see you. I can't wait to die so I can be with you, Gabriel, and Cas again. God, the only thing that's stopping me from putting a bullet in my own head is that I promised I wouldn't." Well, it was that and the fact that Gabriel warned him he'd bring him back if he did something stupid like that. If it was just the promise, he'd probably break it and let Gabriel kick his ass in Heaven.

"No, you can't do that. You deserve to have a life. I don't want you to end it for me," Sam said.

"And I don't want you to put yours on hold for me," Dean countered. "Sam, I know this seemed like a great idea, but I don't think it's worth it. This isn't real. In the end, it's just a dream. Maybe it's a more lifelike one, but it's just a dream, and if you keep it up, you could get in trouble. You're not supposed to be here. If that dick, Michael, finds out..."

"He doesn't have to. There are so many angels that I doubt he's paying that much attention to what I'm doing. The only one who will find out is Dad, and I know he won't tell him," Sam said.

"It's not worth the risk. You don't need to piss the asshole off. The last thing you need is another threat of war. And like I said, neither of us can move on this way. I hate it just as much as you do, but we have to let each other go for now," Dean said. He was doing his best to keep the tears from his eyes. This hurt him to say just as much as it hurt Sam to hear, but he had to let go for Sam's sake at least.

"It's not fair, Dean," Sam said brokenly.

Dean sat back in his seat. "Yeah, well, our lives have never been fair. Why would now be any different?"

"It started to be different. "When the three of us were at home, it was different. Yeah, there was a threat looming over us, but we were happy."

"Yeah," Dean said. It was hard to believe thinking back. When Gabriel first forced him into that house, he was not happy. He was glad to get Sam back, but he saw Gabriel as a threat to the life he and Sam had. But after some time, Gabriel became a part of their family. Dean missed him almost as much as Sam. "We'll get it back, Sammy. It'll just be a while. For right now, you have to go. We just have to live our lives the best we can until we can see each other again.

Sam pulled his brother into his arms and held on as tight as he could. He didn't want to go. He just wanted to stay like this forever. Unfortunately, he felt himself being forcibly pulled away.

Sam woke up back in his room seconds later and heard the hard tone of his father.

"Do you really think that was fair?"

Sam stood up and turned to see his father leaned against the door frame with his arms crossed. "You couldn't have given me a couple more minutes."

"I gave you longer than I should've. I should've pulled you out the second I realized what you were doing. I don't know what you were thinking," Gabriel said.

I wanted to see my brother. I don't see what the big deal is anyway," Sam said before getting up. He brushed past his father as he left the room and headed out to the living room.

"You don't see the big deal? You aren't to leave Heaven!" Gabriel said in a slightly raised tone.

"I didn't. I was here the whole time," Sam said.

"You know damn well that going into someone's dream is a breech of the agreement. I know you know that because otherwise you would've told me what you planned," Gabriel said.

"Agreement? I didn't agree to anything! Lucifer dealt with Michael without giving any of us any say in the matter!" Sam yelled angrily.

"Well, unfortunately, that's how it works her. But in this case, Lucifer didn't really have much choice. It was this or go to war, in which case, many would've been killed, maybe even you and me. So I'm sorry, but he made the right choice," Gabriel said.

"Not for me!" Sam yelled.

"And do you think you made the right choice tonight. He asked to be left alone, Sam," Gabriel reminded him.

"Because he couldn't see me. Now he did," Sam said.

"Once, but you had to know that I wasn't going to allow it to happen again. Like I said, you would've told me if you thought I'd agree to it. So all you did was inhibit yours and Dean's ability to move on," Gabriel said.

"I'm never gonna move on!" Sam yelled once more.

Gabriel sighed. "Sam, I know you miss your brother. I miss him too, but this doesn't help it. All it does is make it worse, am I right? Do you feel feel any better than you did a few hours ago?"

"No," Sam admitted. His father wasn't wrong. Leaving Dean's dream felt like losing him all over again. "I didn't do anything to Michael. Why'd he have to do this to me?"

Gabriel approached his son and pulled him into his arms. "'I'm so sorry, kiddo, but we can't change the way things are.

Sam leaned into his father's embrace and let the man comfort him.


	5. Chapter 5

Lucifer was in his office looking over the cases of all the angels who had been imprisoned, trying to determine how many of the decisions were just and how many were Michael going overboard. He'd already handled Gadreel's case. He'd had him released hours earlier. But he was one of many.

Soon, Lucifer heard his door open loudly. He didn't even bother to look up to see who it was. He knew the answer already. "Hello, Michael."

"What do you think you're doing?!" Michael demanded to know.

"Currently? Cleaning up your mess," Lucifer said without missing a beat.

Michael slammed the door shut behind him and approached his brother's desk. "You released Gadreel from prison!"

"Like I said, I'm cleaning up your mess. Actually, I'm cleaning up a lot of them," Lucifer said. He still hadn't bothered to look at his brother.

"Look at me, you bastard!" Michael said angrily before slamming his hands down on his brother's desk.

Lucifer sighed and picked his head up to look at his brother. "Michael, I am extremely busy right now. I don't have time to cater to your tantrum."

"Gadreel earned his sentence," Michael said firmly.

"No, he didn't. Gadreel was tricked. I should know since I'm the one who did it. His biggest flaw was being gullible. That's not an offense deserving of eternity in prison," Lucifer said.

"I disagree," Michael said through gritted teeth.

"Well, you can disagree all you want. It doesn't matter. It's not your call. I am no longer in prison, so why should he be?" Lucifer asked.

"Neither of you deserve to be free."

"Yet, you helped set me free," Lucifer responded.

"How many of my decisions are you going to overrule," Michael asked.

"It depends on how many of them are wrong, but based on what I've seen so far, I'd say probably quite a few," Lucifer said.

"You're going to destroy all of us," Michael said.

Lucifer sighed. "You're becoming a broken record. All I ever hear from you is how evil I am or how I will destroy everyone. Find some new material. Oh, and try to remember that the only reason both Heaven and Earth wasn't destroyed is because of me."

"I was following Father's Will!" Michael argued.

"Oh, shut up about Father's Will! He's gone, Michael! And there's every reason to believe that he's not coming back! Live with that and start thinking for yourself!" Lucifer yelled. He was so tired of the 'Father's Will' crap. It was time to give up on the old man. He'd clearly given up on them. Michael needed to realize that he could do anything asked of him and it still wouldn't make a difference.

"That's what you're hoping, isn't it?" Michael asked.

Lucifer groaned. "No, it's not. I'd welcome him back, no matter how much I'd like to punch him. He could clean up your mess instead of me. But he's not coming back, Mike. It's been millennia." His voice had softened at the end, as he tried to ease his brother into the realization that their father was gone. He knew it was painful for him, but it was time to deal with the facts.

"If that's true, it's because of you," Michael said with contempt in his voice.

"No, it's because of him!" Lucifer said as he began to get frustrated again. "He's the one who chose not to be a father or a creator anymore. That's on him. Face it, Michael, not even he is perfect. He left us and we have to go on."

"And we should go on with you to lead us?"

"Well, you weren't working out. Your leadership nearly got everyone killed," Lucifer said.

"And it remains to be seen if yours will," Michael retorted before heading for the door.

"Michael, does it even bother you?" Lucifer asked.

Michael turned around to face him. "What?"

"The pain you've caused our family. Angels like Anael and Metatron fled Heaven out of fear. Gadreel and many others are terrified of you. Gabriel can't even say your name without contempt in his voice. I'm not sure he'll ever forgive you," Lucifer said. He wanted Michael to understand the pain he'd caused. He needed to see the damage. It was the only way he could fix it. Lucifer knew that better than anyone.

"That's not my fault. They're the ones who broke the rules," Michael protested.

"They're your siblings, Michael, not simply your soldiers who need to fall in line. Maybe it's time you remember that," Lucifer said.

Michael looked at his brother for a minute before walking out of the room.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Sam was sitting in the garden. He liked the garden. It was calming, something he needed when he was so angry all the time. He was holding a branch in the air with telekinesis, something he'd learned to do maybe a week ago. He couldn't control it well though. It took time for him to make it work most of the time.

"How long have you been able to do that?"

A startled Sam dropped the branch and turned to see Joshua. "Dude, a little warning."

Joshua chuckled. "I apologize, young nephew. You've learned telekinesis. When did you learn?"

"I wouldn't say I've learned. It's more like it just showed up. It was about a week ago," Sam said.

"Does your father know?" Joshua wondered.

"Not yet. I try not to talk to him much these days. When I talk to people, I get angry and usually lash out. It wouldn't end well with my dad," Sam said. He didn't really blame his father for getting pissed when that happened either. It wasn't fair of him to lash out at his father. He just couldn't help it. When he was mad, he took it out on everyone around him.

"You should tell him. He can help you learn it better," he said.

"And it would turn into another series of training sessions. I'd rather not right now," Sam said.

Soon, both Joshua and Sam heard footsteps. They turned to see a figure come out of the trees. "Michael. Can I do something for you?" Joshua asked respectfully.

Sam, meanwhile, glared daggers at the man he held responsible for ruining his life. If it weren't for him, he could be with his brother again. His family would be complete.

"Hello, Joshua. No, I don't need anything. I simply wished to take a walk through the garden. I didn't realize you had other company," Michael said as he eyed the Nephilim carefully.

"Yes, Sam frequents this place often. It does have the tendency to calm those who visit," Joshua said.

"Not always," Sam practically growled under his breath.

Michael looked at Sam and addressed him for the first time since he arrived. "Your anger radiates off of you. You should learn to control that. With the amount of power you have inside you, that you have no idea how to control, you could hurt someone."

"If only that would happen," Sam said while giving the archangel a murderous look.

"Is that a threat? You should be grateful. If I'd had it my way…"

"We all know what would've happened if you'd had it your way!" Sam interrupted loudly. "If you'd had it your way, the entire world would've been destroyed! But in a way, you still won, didn't you? You didn't get to kill me, but you certainly ruined my life!"

"Sam, you need to calm down. Michael is correct about your anger," Joshua said.

"Ruined your life? You are in Heaven. It is the best place in the world. Humans dream about coming here when they die. I suppose you're angry over the human you called your brother. He isn't, you know? He's not your brother. He never should've believed he was because you shouldn't have existed. And you probably would've eventually killed him."

Sam felt white hot rage as he listened to this bastard disregard the relationship he had with Dean and actually insinuate that he would hurt his brother. He hated Michael more than he ever hated anyone. He wanted to hurt him so badly.

Much to the surprise of all three of them, a small fire broke out just a hair away from Michael's foot.

Michael jumped back and waved his hand over the flames, instantly putting them out.

Sam stared in shock. Had he done that? He felt like he had to have because it was clear Michael hadn't and he was almost positive Joshua hadn't. He'd just started a fire without even trying. All he'd been thinking about was wanting to hurt Michael.

"Michael, that was an accident. He didn't mean to…"

"I can see that, Joshua," Michael cut off. He'd seen the boy's face. He was just as surprised as they were. "It's of no consequence anyway. He wouldn't be the first to nearly set me on fire. Gabriel once set my entire arm ablaze. But this does prove my point about your anger, Sam. I suggest you work on that. I also insist that you speak with your father about learning to control your fire power. You may have realized it, but your powers will develop faster here than they did on Earth, as you are now connected to Heaven's power. Make sure your father prepares you. The last thing we need is for you to hurt someone," Michael said before walking away.

Joshua took a hold of Sam's shoulder. "Are you alright?"

"I…I didn't do that on purpose. I didn't even know I could do it," Sam said in a shaky voice.

"I know. Michael is right, you need to mention this to your father. He can help you," Joshua said.

"I…I need to be alone right now," Sam said before turning and walking through the forest.


	6. Chapter 6

Sam walked into the living room of the 'house' he shared with his dad one day and found the man seated on the couch. "Morning."

"Morning, kiddo. You sleep well?" Gabriel asked.

"Yeah, fine," Sam lied as he sat down next to his father. He hadn't slept well in a couple of days, since his ability set things on fire made itself known. Aside from smiting, it was the most dangerous power he'd developed. The difference was that smiting he had to actually be trying to do. He could start a fire at any moment without realizing it. It was extremely frightening.

"Yeah? Tossing and turning is sleeping well?" Gabriel asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Why'd you ask if you already knew the answer?" Sam grumbled

Gabriel ignored the question. "What's going on?"

"Nothing. Nothing that wasn't already wrong before. I just hate it here and I miss Dean," Sam lied. He hadn't told his father what happened. He knew he should, but he didn't want him to know. His had would make him learn it more and he didn't want to, and he especially didn't want to do with him. What if he accidently set his own father on fire?

That was part of the reason Sam didn't tell him. The other part was much more childish. Michael had pretty much ordered him to tell his father, and he refused to give in to any demands of Michael's. That bastard had no business trying to order him around.

"Really. You were sleeping okay before," Gabriel said, not sure he bought his son's explanation.

"Well, it just gets worse," Sam said. That part wasn't a lie. Things didn't get better. He only hated life worse as time went on. That was especially true after encountering Michael.

Gabriel sighed and put a hand on his son's shoulder. "It won't be like this forever. I know it doesn't seem like it, but it will get better.

Sam began to get angry. He got angry every time his father would say something like that. He knew the archangel was just trying to help him, but it didn't help. It only made him more angry. He needed to get out of there before he said something he regretted. I'm gonna go change. I'm gonna take a walk."

Gabriel watched Sam stand up and start to leave. He got up and gently took a hold of his son's arm. "Hey. Stop pushing me away, alright? Please, just sit and talk to me."

"I can't. When I try to talk to you about Dean, I just get angry and I say something I shouldn't. Then you get angry and I get more angry. I know it's not right, but you're the only one here for me to lash out at. Please, just let me be," Sam said before pulling away and heading out of the room.

Gabriel sighed. The pain his son was going through was breaking his heart, and Sam was right, it only seemed to be getting worse so far. For the love of his father, Gabriel just wanted to murder Michael for doing this.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Sam found himself on a bench in one of the many corridors of Heaven. Usually he went to the garden to think, but he decided it might not be the best idea to be surrounded by wood and trees just after learning he could set things on fire.

"Hello, little nephew," a new voice said.

Sam turned just in time to see Balthazar sit down next to him. "Hey, Balthazar. It's best you not be around me right now. I am not good company."

"I take it you haven't taken my advice then," Balthazar said.

Sam snorted. "You mean your advice to somehow get happy about being trapped her and not being allowed to see my brother? No, I haven't."

"Well, that's fine, I suppose. So long as you like being miserable," Balthazar said.

Sam huffed as he began to get angry. He had to try to force it down, so he didn't get too angry, like he had with Michael. He didn't want to accidently hurt Balthazar.

Balthazar looked past Sam to the figure approaching behind him. "Well, this doesn't seem likely to help your misery."

Before Sam could question what the angel meant by that, he heard the one voice hated. Michael's voice.

"It's not wise for you to be out here unsupervised."

Sam seethed as his anger intensified. The oldest archangel's voice alone grated on him, but the actual words that came out of his mouth made it worse. He wasn't a child that had to be watched every second.

"And Balthazar doesn't count," Michael continued.

"Never claimed to be a chaperone," Balthazar said.

"You can leave now," Michael said to the younger angel.

Balthazar hesitated, unsure if it was good idea to leave Michael alone with the young Nephilim. Michael had wanted to kill the boy not too long ago. He probably still did want to.

Michael glared at Balthazar. "Nothing will happen to him. I do not go against Heaven's rules, even if I disagree with them. Leave!"

Reluctantly, Balthazar got up and walked away.

"I can't believe Gabriel would allow you to roam on your own before properly training your newest ability," Michael said.

"What do you care? It's none of your business," Sam said with a glare.

"Unless he doesn't know. Have you not told him? My instructions were clear. I told you to inform your father about your pyrokinesis," Michael said with authority.

Sam stood up angrily and got in Michael's face. "I don't take orders from you, you son of bitch!"

A couple of angels, who were walking by, stopped at Sam's outburst, unable to believe that anyone would speak to Michael like that.

"Keep walking," Michael told the other angels without even turning to glance at them. Then he spoke to Sam once more. "You'd do well to understand the chain of command. Because he's your father, you'd answer to Gabriel first, but understand that archangels outrank everyone else in Heaven. I may not be in charge anymore, but should I give you an order, you still follow it. Come with me."

"Screw you!" Sam snarled as Michael started to walk away.

Michael stopped and turned back to him. "It wasn't a request. Follow me or I teleport you," he said before walking away once more. He didn't bother to check to see if Sam was following him.

Sam thought about continuing to refuse, but he was pretty sure Michael would make good on his threat. Besides, he was probably only going to force him to tell his dad the truth, which he probably wasn't going to be able put off much longer anyway.

Sam followed Michael for about ten minutes, down several hallways until they came to a room with double doors. After walking inside, Sam took a look at the room. It was a very large, empty space. By large, he meant he was pretty sure he could fit two to three small mansions in there.

"This is what we'd use to train fledglings to control their abilities. We'd train hundreds at a clip. That's why the room is so big," Michael explained.

"I'm not training with you," Sam said immediately. He could only assume that was what Michael had in mind. There was no way. He hated the bastard. There was no way he was going to spend that much time alone with him.

"I'm not very fond of the idea myself. There are much more important things I could be doing with my time. However, since you decided not to speak with your father on the issue, I have no choice. Well, I suppose I could tell him myself or tell Lucifer and he'd do so, but I feel that this is just as well. Someone needs to get you under control, someone who isn't blind to what you are and what you can do. Now I can't do what I'd like to do with you, but I can try to minimize the danger you pose," Michael said.

Sam glared daggers at him. Michael talked to him like he was a monster, like he was no better than a demon. He wasn't even a little bit shy about what he thought of him. "I'm not doing this."

Michael watched the Nephilim walk towards the doors. He waited until Sam was almost to them before flicking his wrist, causing them to close and lock.

Sam turned back to Michael. "Let me out!"

"When we're done. Now, first thing's first. I can see your anger hasn't quelled any."

"You're not on fire, are you?" Sam asked with a snarl.

Michael ignored him and went on. "You need to begin meditating every day. It helps with emotions."

"I already do that," Sam said, though he wasn't sure why he was telling Michael anything.

"Well, it's obviously not enough. Do so two or three times a day. Begin as soon as you leave here. Now, you'll come here every day until I deem otherwise, unless you decide to tell your father, which you don't seem to be too keen on for some reason. Let's get started."

"I'm not doing this!" Sam yelled.

"You will. You won't leave here until you do. I can be very patient. I have all the time in the world. I'll not allow you to become a threat to everyone here. I'm told you don't want that either. Now, are those that have said that right or am I?" Michael asked.

Sam really wanted to punch the bastard, but he doubted it would do any good. Besides, Michael wasn't wrong. He did need to train or he might hurt someone. And grudgingly, he had to admit that Michael might be the best person to train him. Anyone else that did it, he'd worry about hurting, especially his father. Michael, he wanted to hurt. Hell, maybe it would even make him feel better to set Michael on fire. "Fine."


	7. Chapter 7

Gabriel walked into Lucifer's office and found him organizing papers on his desk. "Hey. You asked to see me."

"Hey, Gabriel. Come sit," Lucifer urged.

"Make it quick, would you?" Gabriel asked as he walked over and sat down. "I'd be best that I not accidently run into Michael while I'm down this way. I can't guarantee his face will survive the encounter."

"Michael's actually been making himself scarce lately, much to my delight. It's nice not having him constantly in my face over every little thing," Lucifer said. He hadn't really seen Michael much since the last encounter over Gadreel. He was hoping that his brother was had actually listened to him and was thinking on what he said, but that seemed a bit much to hope for.

"Why do you think that is?" Gabriel asked slightly suspicious. He didn't think Michael would plan a takeover or anything. He was mainly a 'yes man.' But he didn't want to put anything past him. Michael couldn't be trusted.

Lucifer noticed his brother's apprehension. "Don't worry about it. Michael's not gonna do anything. He's an idiot and a hothead, but he's not Raphael. He doesn't have a devious bone in his body.

Gabriel shrugged his shoulders. "As long as he stays away from me and my son, I don't care what he does. So, what did you need?"

"Well, I told you that I was looking for angels who had left Heaven. I think I'm close to finding one. I was hoping you'd join me in talking to him," Lucifer said.

"Who is it?" Gabriel asked.

"Metatron," Lucifer answered.

Gabriel groaned. "Lucifer, you know I can barely tolerate Metatron's existence."

"I know Metatron has his faults," Lucifer said.

"He's a self-righteous dick, more so even than Michael," Gabriel said. At least Michael had reasons for his massive ego. He was the first angel ever created and former ruler of Heaven. Metatron just thought he was more important than he was.

"Look, I need help convincing him to come home. He's not going to trust me by myself," Lucifer said.

"Why not just leave him where he is? You said you didn't want to force those who left back," Gabriel said.

"I don't intend to force him. I'll do my best to convince him, but if he truly wants to remain on Earth, I won't stop him. Look, I have to try. Metatron was pretty much forced to leave, just like you felt you were," Lucifer said. He wasn't above a bit of emotional blackmail. He was nicknamed Satan after all.

Gabriel narrowed his eyes a bit. "That's low, Lucifer."

Lucifer shrugged and smirked.

"Fine, but don't expect me to placate the bastard to get him to come back," Gabriel said.

"Thank you. So how are things going? How's Sam?" Lucifer asked.

Gabriel's only response was a long sigh.

"No better, huh?" Lucifer asked.

"He hates it here, Lucifer. He misses his brother. I caught him dream walking him a couple of weeks ago," Gabriel said.

Lucifer groaned. "Don't let that happen again, Gabriel. I know I didn't specify it, but…"

"I know, Lucifer. I already talked to him about it, and I'm monitoring him. I don't think he'll try it again. I don't think it turned out the way he wanted," Gabriel said.

Lucifer nodded, satisfied with his brother's answer. "Anything else going on with him?"

"I don't know. He barely talks to me. He usually disappears to the garden all day," Gabriel said sadly. He almost felt like he'd lost both his sons. Sam was with him, but they barely spoke or even saw each other. Sam was shutting him out.

"He doesn't blame you, does he? I can talk to him. We both know this was my choice," Lucifer said.

Gabriel shook his head. "He doesn't blame me for coming here. He's just really angry, and he's not good at dealing with his anger. He takes it out on whoever is around. He realizes that, and I guess he's trying to avoid it." He did appreciate that his son knew that he had to stop taking his anger out on him, but he hated that Sam was pushing him away time and time again.

"Just give it time, Gabriel. He'll come around. Things will get better," Lucifer assured his brother.

"I keep telling him that, but I'm not sure they will. Sam and Dean were all each other had growing up. I don't know that Sam can be anything but miserable without his brother," Gabriel said sadly.

"How about you? I know the human matters to you too," Lucifer said.

"I'd really prefer you not call my son 'the human'," Gabriel said.

"I suppose," was Lucifer's only response.

"I miss him, Lucifer. I miss him just as much as I did Sam when he was growing up. The difference is that I could at least watch over Sam. I can't see Dean," Gabriel said miserably. Sam wasn't the only one struggling with what was going on.

"You could. You could go check on him," Lucifer said.

Gabriel shook his head. "I'd be tempted to talk to him, plus, I'd feel like I was breaking my promise to him. Dean needs a clean break," he said before standing up. "Let me know when you're ready to see Metatron."

Lucifer nodded and watched his brother leave.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

"This is pathetic," Michael commented with a scowl. He was training the Nephilim, and the boy couldn't seem to conjure up a flame no matter how long they worked.

"Screw you," Sam immediately came back with.

"You can do this, yet you refuse to try," Michael said.

"I am trying!" Sam yelled. Well, he sort of was. He could admit that it was a half-assed attempt. He didn't want to do this. He didn't want to expand on this power. It was too dangerous in his opinion. People could get hurt.

"Barely. You are acting like you don't want this," Michael said. He of course knew that couldn't be true. The boy was likely just being difficult to spite him.

"I don't!"

Michael sneered in response. "Do not attempt to fool me. No one rejects the kind of power you could wield."

"Don't act like you know me! I never wanted power! I'm a hunter!" Sam yelled.

"You were. Now you're a being that shouldn't exist," Michael replied bluntly.

"Alright, I'm done with this! Let me out!" Sam demanded. He didn't need to stand there and be condemned by this SOB for what he was.

"No," was Michael's only response.

"I said I'm not doing this anymore!" Sam screamed.

"You'll do as you're told. Not only are on the bottom of the chain of command, as you are nothing more than an abomination, you're also no older than a toddler by our standards, something that makes you even more dangerous," Michael stated.

Sam seethed more and more as the archangel continued to speak. Before he knew it, smoke began to come from Michael's foot, followed by a small flame. He had to admit, it was a bit satisfying to light Michael up, even if it was just a little bit.

Michael immediately extinguished the flame with a wave of the hand. "Well, maybe we are getting somewhere after all. You still need to be able to do it on command though."

"Why are you doing this if you think I'm so terrible? I'd think you wouldn't want me becoming more powerful," Sam said.

"Short of killing you, which I'm forbidden to do, there's nothing I can do about your power. It's is already inside you and will only get stronger as you grow. But as I've said before, controlling it is essential. Think of what would happen if you got as angry as you just were outside of this room. Others could be hurt," Michael explained.

"So far, you're the only one I hate enough to bring it out," Sam said.

Michael shrugged his shoulders, not caring in the slightest for the Nephilim's declaration of hatred. "You've been lucky so far, or should I say others have been lucky. It will only get worse as the power grows. Now, shall we continue?"

"Do I really have a choice in the matter?" Sam asked with irritation laced in his voice.

"No. Now try again," Michael instructed.

Sam sighed and began another attempt to conjure fire.


	8. Chapter 8

Sam was sitting at the table with his father finishing up breakfast. Once he was done, he started to get up. "I'll be back later."

"Hold up. We need to talk about something," Gabriel said.

Sam sat back down and eyed his father cautiously. For a second, he wondered if his dad had found out about the training sessions with Michael. He soon realized that couldn't be it. If his dad knew about that, and about Sam hiding a power from him, he'd be livid. There was no way he'd be speaking so calmly. It had to be something else. "What?"

"I have to leave for a little while. I need to make a trip to Earth," Gabriel said.

"A…are you going to see Dean?" Sam asked. He knew it was selfish, but a huge part of him didn't want his dad to get to see Dean. It wasn't fair that he got to see him, and Sam couldn't.

"No. I promised Dean that I would keep my distance and not get involved in his life unless he did something stupid. He's kept his promise, so I will keep mine," Gabriel told him.

"Why do you have to go then?" Sam asked. He still wasn't happy. His dad got to go where he wasn't allowed. He got to get away from this place.

"I'm going with Lucifer to speak to an angel who left here around the same time I did. Lucifer wants to try to convince him to come home.

"Oh, okay. I guess I'll see you when you get back then," Sam said before getting up again. He was a little more eager to leave for training now. It bothered him that his dad was going to Earth and he couldn't. He needed to blow off some steam, and trying to set the archangel who was responsible for all this on fire seemed like the best way.

"Nope, not done. I'd like you to stay here until I get back," Gabriel said.

Sam plopped right back down into his chair. "Why?

"I just don't want to chance something happening," Gabriel said. Honestly, he didn't really expect anything. Even with both him and Lucifer gone for the day, he figured most wouldn't be stupid enough to go after his son, however, he didn't want to take any chances.

"Dad, nothing's gonna happen. Everyone here knows Lucifer's in charge. They won't go against him. I've come across a lot of angels since I've been here. Nothing's ever happened," Sam said. Well, nothing happened other than a few of them expressing their hate for him.

"I would prefer that you stay here while I'm gone," Gabriel told his son again. His tone left little room for argument.

Sam sighed. "Fine."

"Thank you."

"When are you leaving?" Sam asked.

"Now," Gabriel said as he stood up. "Hopefully, this won't take long."

Sam nodded and watched him disappear. He then went to the living room and laid down on the couch, grabbing a book he'd left on the table the night before. He probably should've gone to let Michael know he wasn't coming, but he really didn't care about inconveniencing the archangel, so he didn't bother.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Gabriel walked into an internet café with Lucifer. It was where they were supposed to find Metatron. "Let's get this over with. I need to get back."

Lucifer could tell that his brother was concerned. He'd seen it the moment his brother showed up to his office. He could only guess it was because of Sam. "Gabriel, relax. Sam will be fine. Michael's not gonna do anything while we're gone."

"Yeah, and what about the rest of the dicks that hate my son?" Gabriel asked.

"They'd be stupid to do anything, and they know it," Lucifer said.

"Yeah, you're probably right, but it's my kid. Even the possibility worries me. Let's just do this," Gabriel said. He noticed a man towards the back reading a book. He could tell from the Grace coming from him that it was Metatron.

"Let's go," Lucifer said before leading the way. He went and sat down on one side of the angel while Gabriel sat on the other side. They both made sure to hide their Grace until they were sitting down.

Metatron looked up and prepared to tell off the humans that were keen on disturbing him. Then he caught the magnificent Grace that was the two archangels.

"Hello, Metatron," Lucifer said.

"Lucifer, Gabriel. I'd heard the buzz that you'd both returned to Heaven. And Lucifer is now the head honcho. I would've thought I misheard if I thought that was possible," Metatron said.

"Much has changed in Heaven, Metatron," Lucifer said.

"So I've heard. You people are breaking all the rules," Metatron said.

"Not all of them. We may be changing some of them," Lucifer conceited.

Metatron laughed. "A Nephilim not only allowed to live, but to reside in Heaven? No bigger rule was ever broken."

"Watch your mouth, Metatron," Gabriel said in a dangerous tone.

"Yes, that's right. You're the one who created the little abomination," he said with a sneer.

Gabriel was up in seconds. He roughly pulled Metatron up and slammed his head into the table.

Lucifer waved his hand to make sure the humans didn't pay any attention. He didn't stop Gabriel though. If Metatron was stupid enough to goad Gabriel, he deserved what he got.

"I said watch your damned mouth! Don't you ever speak like that about my son!" Gabriel growled.

"Alright, Gabriel, let him go," Lucifer said.

Gabriel held Metatron there for a minute. Then he pulled him up and forced him back into his chair before sitting back down.

"Metatron, you'd do well to remember who you're in the company of," Lucifer warned.

"What do you want?" Metatron asked.

"As I was saying, things have changed in Heaven. Michael is no longer in charge. I realize that he was so harsh that it has caused some of you to flee Heaven," Lucifer said.

Metatron laughed. "You want me to come back."

"We're giving you the option," Gabriel specified. He wanted to make it quite clear to Metatron that they did not need him back. The last thing he wanted was to feed Metatron's ego. It was already way too big.

"Right, but we would prefer you come back. Any angel I can get to come back, I will. This place wasn't meant for angels. Our home is Heaven," Lucifer explained.

"Coming from the archangel who planned to destroy humanity and take over the planet," Metatron said.

"Yes, well, priorities change," Lucifer said.

"All because of some little…" Metatron trailed off as he caught a look from Gabriel. They all knew he was about to bring up Gabriel's offspring. As much as Metatron enjoyed goading his siblings, he decided antagonizing him this way might not be the best course of action right now. "Why should I come back? You people drove me away. Why would I come back for you?"

"Make no mistake about it, Metatron, you won't be hurting us by refusing to come back. I promise you, we won't waste so much as another thought on you if you choose not to. You really should stop thinking your more important than you are," Gabriel said coldly. He meant what he said to Lucifer. He would not beg Metatron to come back, and that was clearly what the asshole wanted.

"We're offering you a chance to come home. I want you to come home, but I will not force you, and I definitely won't beg you," Lucifer said firmly.

Metatron mulled everything over for a few moments before speaking again. "I'll come back on the condition that no one try to force what Father may have said out of me."

Lucifer stood up and watched as Gabriel followed suit. "I really don't give a damn about what the old man had to say, even to his scribe. He's gone. It's time for everyone to accept that and move on."

Metatron nodded. "Fine. I'll return.

"See you soon then," Lucifer said before he and Gabriel walked away.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Sam got about halfway through his book when there was a knock at the door. Sam could only assume it was Cas. Aside from Lucifer, Cas was the only one who visited.

Sam got up and answered the door. Much to his surprise, and Chagrin, it was Michael, not Cas. "What the hell do you want?"

"I can only assume you've forgotten that we had an engagement. I do not appreciate being kept waiting," Michael said irritable.

"Yeah, well, I didn't appreciate being forced from my home. My dad asked me to stay here today," Sam said.

"And why's that?" Michael asked.

"Because he's afraid of assholes like you trying to hurt me when he's not here," Sam said coldly.

Michael sneered. "I have made it very clear that I won't go against Heaven. I've also made it clear that you need training."

"Well, it's going to have to wait. I'm not going to go against my father's wishes on this. I'm already doing that every day when I meet you. He'd kill me if he found out about us training," Sam said.

"Gabriel being parental? Please," Michael scoffed.

Sam glared. "Screw you! You don't know anything about my father!"

"He's my brother."

"Yeah, whom you forced out thousands of years ago. You don't know him now," Sam said.

"I didn't force him to do anything. He left because he wanted to. He abandoned us, leading many to think he was dead!" Michael growled. He was never sure if Gabriel was alive or not until he learned that he and Lucifer were working together. That unknown almost drove him mad at times.

"You and Lucifer drove him away!" Sam yelled. He didn't absolve Lucifer. He didn't hold as much resentment at him for it because he knew Lucifer regretted it, but he was responsible to. "You tore him apart! You put him in the middle of your fighting. It killed him! But you didn't stop hurting him there, did you? No, you made it worse. You forced him to give up his own kid, just by being who you were. He knew what you'd do if you knew about me.

"What should've been done," Michael said.

"You're the reason I never knew my father until I was an adult," Sam said resentfully. Sam wasn't sorry he grew up a Winchester, if for no other reason than Dean. He could never wish for a life without his brother. But that didn't mean he didn't wonder what it would've been like to grow up with his father. He wondered all the time. It was because of Michael that he had to wonder.

"You're not an adult now. I expect to see you tomorrow at the scheduled time. Be well rested because we will go twice as long to make up for today," Michael said before walking away without another word.

Sam yelled out angrily and slammed the door closed.


	9. Chapter 9

Lucifer followed Michael as he left his office. He had started to wonder what took his brother away every single day. He told Gabriel he wasn't worried, and he wasn't. Michael wouldn't do anything now that he surrendered control, and even if he thought about it, Lucifer would've picked up on it. Michael could not lie to save his life. However, that didn't mean Lucifer wasn't curious as to what his older brother was up to. For the last few weeks, Michael had been gone for huge chunks of the day.

Lucifer made sure to suppress his Grace and hid his appearance as he followed Michael, so the older archangel wouldn't see or sense him. If Michael tried, he probably could pick up on him, as he was a bit more powerful than Lucifer, but there was no reason for him to try if he didn't know he was being followed.

Lucifer was perplexed as they eventually came to the training area and Michael walked inside. This was where all fledglings were taught to use their powers, but there had been no need for it in centuries. Why would Michael need it?

' _There's only one way to find out,'_ Lucifer thought to himself as he teleported himself inside to remain undetected. Once inside, he was surprised to see Sam there. Sam looked at Michael, and did not seem at all surprised to see him. A bit pissed, yes, but not surprised.

Lucifer wasn't sure what Sam was doing meeting with Michael. Well, that wasn't totally true. He had a good idea of what they were doing. This was the training room after all. He just didn't understand why Sam would be training with Michael?

"Good. You're on time today," Michael said.

Sam scowled. "I told you I was late yesterday because I couldn't get away." His dad had chosen that time to try to talk to him about how much time he spent 'in the garden'. It was a bit hard to get away.

"And I told you that's not my problem. An easy solution would be to stop lying to your father, wouldn't it?" Michael asked.

Lucifer groaned quietly. He had a feeling that what ever was going on here, lies to Gabriel were involved. Gabriel would never have allowed this to happen. He didn't want Michael anywhere near his son.

"You should be glad I'm lying to him. He'd probably kill you if he knew you were training me," Sam said.

"Shall we start?" Michael asked as his only reply.

"Whatever," Sam said.

"You know what to do. Focus on trying to heat up the room intensively until you produce flame.

Lucifer raised an eyebrow slightly. So Sam had developed fire power. That was impressive. It was an archangel power. He couldn't help but be proud of his young nephew. Although, Gabriel was not going to be happy. The power itself was fine, but Sam had kept it from him. That was just going to make this whole situation worse. Sam was digging himself a nice, big hole right now. Not only was he lying and hiding a dangerous power from his father, he was working with Michael behind Gabriel's back. It was not going to go over well.

Sam closed his eyes and did as he was asked, though reluctantly. He still did not like this power. It was so dangerous. Realistically, he knew that was why he needed to be trained, but the other part of him just felt it should be left alone. He didn't want it to develop further.

Michael sighed unhappily. "You should have this room completely engulfed in flames by now. In fact, you should've been able to do so before now. We have been doing this for nearly three weeks."

"I'm doing the best I can!" Sam snapped.

Michael sneered. "Please. You think I can't tell that you're holding back. You are not giving this your best effort. You're not even giving it half of that. Do you have any idea what most here would give to have this kind of power?"

"Yeah, well, unlike them, I don't relish hurting people!" Sam shouted.

Michael rolled his eyes. "And you think walking around with a power you can't control will be better? Besides, I would think you'd relish the opportunity to hurt me, not that you could."

"Believe me, setting you on fire is the only thing that give me pleasure these days," Sam said seething.

"Then stop holding back! Throw your worst at me. You know what? I'll even help you out with that. You know what I think of you. You should've been exterminated the moment you drew your first breath. You're nothing but an evil abomination that should've been destroyed," Michael goaded.

Lucifer almost made himself known and laid the floor with his older brother. He knew Michael was trying to piss Sam off, but he also knew that Michael believed it, and just hearing those words directed at his young nephew pissed Lucifer off.

"At least I never went out of my way to hurt my own family!" Sam screamed, just as both of Michael's legs caught on fire.

Michael immediately extinguished the flames and smirked.

"Please tell me that hurt," Sam said.

"Minimally," Michael said. He couldn't deny that the Nephilim's power did affect him. He felt a mild burn. It was nothing compared to what a human or even a seraph would feel though.

"Good."

"How long is it going to take for you to be able to do that without me provoking you?" Michael asked.

"Like I said, you're the only one I actually want to hurt. I know you find that hard to believe given what you think of me," Sam said.

"You still don't understand, do you? You pose more of a danger by ignoring your powers than you do using them. Gaining control means that you decide whether or not to hurt someone with them. If, as you claim, you don't wish to, it won't be a problem once you have control. This power is going to unleash when you don't expect it to unless you harness it, and that goes for any other power you might develop, and there will be more. Believe me, if I thought not teaching you would be at all helpful, I'd happily let you ignore it all. Father knows what you'll do with that kind of power." Michael said.

Sam shook his head in disbelief. "What the hell is wrong with you, man? I never did anything to you! From the moment I was born, you've made it Hell and I never did a thing to you! You hate me for no other reason than what I am!"

"I don't hate you. But you shouldn't exist. That is a simple fact," Michael stated evenly.

"Why? Because of some stupid rule made millennia's ago?" Sam asked.

"A rule made by God himself. My father believes your kind is a danger to everything he's created," Michael said. That was how he knew that even if the Nephilim wasn't a danger now, he would be one day.

"He did believe it," Sam corrected.

Michael sneered. "I'm not going to dignify your lie with further response."

"Fine, whatever. How about you respond for yourself then. Stop hiding behind your old man and make your own decisions!"

Michael laughed mockingly. "There are no decisions aside from his. It is his will. free will, individual choices, they don't exist."

Sam shook his head. "No, you don't get to do that. You don't get to have it both ways."

"Excuse me?" Michael asked with a raised eyebrow, not understanding what the boy was saying.

"You say that I shouldn't exist, and in the next breath, you say free will doesn't exist," Sam said.

"Both statements are true," Michael said, still utterly confused. Was the Nephilim speaking nonsense?

"Free will doesn't exist, right? That means God makes every single decision, whether it be for humans or angels, right?" Sam asked.

"That's correct," Michael said slowly.

"Then using your logic, God must have decided to have his youngest son conceive a Nephilim. There's no such thing as free will, right?" Sam asked.

Michael went to speak, but found he couldn't. The boy's logic seemed sound. How was he to refute that? There was a way, he was sure. His father surely didn't want Sam Winchester to exist. He was an abomination. However, for the life of him, Michael couldn't think of a way to explain away the boy's words.

After listening to Sam and seeing Michael's response, or lack thereof, Lucifer had to stop himself from laughing hysterically. His little nephew had just shocked Michael speechless with his own logic. Why hadn't Lucifer thought to do that. It was an interesting point, one you clearly couldn't argue with, as Michael was having a hard time finding an argument.

"So like I said, you have to choose one or the other. "Either free will exists and maybe you can believe I shouldn't exist, or God makes all decisions and he decided he wanted me in the world," Sam said before heading for the door. He was done with this crap for the day. He didn't care what Michael had to say on the matter.

Michael didn't stop Sam from leaving. He was still very rattled by the Nephilim's words.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Lucifer caught up with Sam a few minutes after he left the training room. He found him heading towards the garden. "Sam."

Sam turned to see his Lucifer walking towards him. "Lucifer."

"Hey," Lucifer said as he stopped in front of him. "I thought maybe we could catch up. Would you mind joining me in my office."

"Uh, I can't. I have to meet my dad," Sam lied. He didn't want to talk to anyone right now. He just wanted to walk through the garden and try to unwind after what happened with Michael.

"Ah. It looked like you were headed for the garden, but I guess you got turned around. I'll join you. We can ask Michael to come as well. I'm sure the five of us can find something to talk about, seeing as how you two are getting to know each other so well," Lucifer said. There was sternness in his voice as finished talking.

Sam had begun to stiffen at the mention of Michael. When he realized Lucifer knew about his training with the archangel, he completely deflated. He was so screwed if Lucifer told his father.

"Or you can join me in my office and we'll see what happens," Lucifer said.

"Your office," Sam said quietly.

Lucifer nodded and turned in the other direction.

The walk to Lucifer's office was both too long and too short for Sam. Too long because he spent it thinking how screwed he was if Lucifer told his father, and he wondered if there was any way he could convince his uncle not to tell. It was too short because He would've liked to put off this conversation as long as possible.

Lucifer opened the door to his office and walked inside. "Shut the door and have a seat."

Sam did as he was told. He closed the door and then took a seat in front of Lucifer's desk.

Lucifer sat down in his chair and looked at his very nervous looking nephew. The anger he had when with Michael was long gone. It was clear the kid was only thinking about how much trouble he might be in. It was the same look Gabriel used to give him when he'd gotten caught. "I have to tell you, Sam, you've dug a big hole for yourself. Lying about where you've been, hiding powers, training with Michael. This doesn't bode well for you when your father finds out."

"Are you going to tell him?" Sam asked.

"I haven't decided yet. First, I want to know what happened. How did training with Michael start?" Lucifer asked. Actually, he had decided what he was going to do. He'd seen what he needed to with Sam and Michael to make that decision. But he felt Sam deserved to be left wondering for a few more minutes, plus he wanted to know what happened.

Sam explained what happened in the garden when he first saw Michael, as well as meeting him the next time and Michael forcing him to train.

"Why didn't you tell your father when Michael told you to?" Lucifer asked

"Well, for one, he didn't have any business telling me what to do," Sam said stubbornly.

"Sorry, Sam, I'm with Michael on this one. You should've told him. You certainly shouldn't have kept it a secret as some stubborn way to defy Michael," Lucifer lectured. He didn't like being the bad guy with his nephew, but this was serious. He couldn't just let Sam think it was okay to hide this. If Michael hadn't found out and forced training on Sam, who knew what would've happened.

"That wasn't the only reason. I didn't want to train this power. It scares me. I didn't want to lean how to do it more," Sam said.

Lucifer nodded. He knew that much from what he'd seen. "So why not tell him after Michael forced you to train with him?"

"Because I thought it might be better to train with Michael. I wasn't afraid to hurt him as much. In fact, I sort of enjoyed lighting him up," Sam said.

Lucifer leaned back in his chair and sighed. "Sam, Gabriel is going to find out, and he will be very angry."

"So you're gonna tell him?" Sam asked defeated.

"I didn't say that."

A glimmer of hope lit up Sam's eyes. "Well, are you?"

"No," Lucifer said after a second. He should tell Gabriel. Everything in him knew he should tell his brother. This was Gabriel's son. He had a right to know what was happening with him, especially if it involved Michael. And the wrath Gabriel would create would rival the old man's when he eventually found out. However, Lucifer had seen the exchange between Michael and Sam. He'd seen that Michael was a dick to Sam, but he'd also seen the affect Sam's speech had on Michael. Michael wasn't going to change with one speech, but there just might be hope for him with Sam's help. So he would let it continue. Though he would make sure Sam understood the consequences. "But he is going to find out, Sam, and it will be much worse if it doesn't come from you."

"I know. I'll tell him when I get this power down," Sam promised.

"Alright. I think you're gonna fall on your face, kid, and take me down with you, but I'll let you do it your way," Lucifer said.

"Thank you," Sam said before standing up and heading for the door.

Lucifer sat there, thinking he just made a mistake. This was going to blow up, big time. Like he told Sam, Gabriel was going to be pissed, maybe more so than he'd ever been.

Lucifer stood up and went next door to Michael's office. He should be back by now. Sure enough, he opened the door and saw Michael stared off into space. "Hey!"

Michael turned, just noticing his brother's presence. "What?"

"You lay a hand on my nephew's head, and I'll kill you," Lucifer warned. He then walked away before Michael even had a chance to respond.


	10. Chapter 10

Sam walked down the hallways of Heaven on his way to training with Michael. That seemed to be all he did lately. How sad was that? He spent most of his time with someone he could barely stand. It was even sadder that life had somehow become better since working with the oldest archangel. Oh, he was still angry as hell and he hated Michael's guts, but been kept so busy made it easier to forget how miserable he was without Dean.

Sam got about halfway to his destination when an angel he had yet to see stepped out in front of him. After months of meditating, Sam was finally able to tell the difference between angels in Heaven. This one was Metatron.

"Well, given that I can't sense who you are from your Grace, you must be Gabriel's abomination," Metatron said.

Sam sucked in a breath and attempted to get around the angel. He figured the best thing he could do was to ignore the comment. Nothing he said would change how he was seen.

Metatron stepped directly in the Nephilim's path, preventing him from leaving.

"Get out of my way. I have to be someplace," Sam said.

"If you ought to be anywhere, it's Hell. I know this because I have written down God's every rule. You shouldn't exist. Both you and your father should've been murdered the second you drew breath! You certainly don't belong in our home!" Metatron said cruelly.

"Is there a problem here?" a third voice asked.

Sam turned to see Michael.

"I'm fairly certain that both of you have places to be that aren't here," Michael said.

"I'm being prevented from passing through," Sam said.

Michael gave Metatron a stony look. "Metatron, I find it hard to believe you have time to linger in the halls. Should you not be with garrison. It is my understanding that you have been assigned to castile."

"I should not be part of a garrison," Metatron said resentfully.

"Why is that? You think yourself above everyone else?" Michael asked. He knew he did. Metatron was always of the mind that he was better than the rest of the seraphs.

"I was God's scribe!" Metatron exclaimed.

Michael turned to Sam. "You may leave." His tone left no doubt that it was an order.

"Gladly," Sam said before walking away.

Michael took a step towards Metatron. "As it has been said to me many times, God is no longer here. Your former position means nothing now. In fact, it didn't mean nearly as much as you seem to think when you did hold it. Now I suggest returning to your duties. Oh, and stay away from the Nephilim. Antagonizing him will do nothing but make you enemies."

"That thing doesn't belong here! It is against God's biggest rule! I will say it as much as I need to! I am not afraid of Gabriel! That boy is nothing more than an abomination!" Metatron yelled.

Michael, who had started to walk away, turned and walked back. He got directly into Metatron's personal space. "You have never known when to hold your tongue! If you do not learn to abide by the new rules, one of which is that that word is not to be used, you will find yourself in a difficult position. And as for not being afraid of Gabriel, you ought to be. Have you not heard yet what became of Raphael, or Zachariah? Not to mention that he is not the only one you need to concern yourself with. Keep away from the Nephilim. Should I catch you with him again, I won't be lenient."

Metatron laughed. "You've got a soft spot for him now too, don't you? It sure seemed like you'd done more than just cross paths with him. You are supposed to be Father's biggest cheerleader, and you have begun to condone that thing's existence."

"What I do, or feel is of no consequence to you, Metatron," Michael said before walking away.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Sam was waiting in the training room when Michael arrived about ten minutes after him.

"You'd do well to stay away from Metatron. He will be no friend to you," Michael warned Sam as soon as he walked through the door.

Sam snorted. "You don't say. I didn't seek the bastard out. I never seek any of them out. If I had the option of staying away from you I would."

"But you don't. Metatron will be different. He has no respect for any of the rules that weren't set down by God himself," Michael said. He wasn't sure why he was telling the boy this. He shouldn't care what Metatron did. He quickly told himself that he was respecting Heaven's rules, but if he was honest with himself, he hadn't looked at Sam the same since the boy used his own logic against him.

"That doesn't sound much different than you," Sam said with a sneer.

"Well, it is. No matter how I feel about them, I follow the rules set down by the ruler of Heaven. Metatron won't. He believes he's better than other angels, even archangels, because he was God's scribe. He believes he can do whatever he wishes. He is dangerous," Michael warned.

"Whatever. I had no intentions of looking for him. Are we going to get started?" Sam asked.

"Yes, but I'd like to start differently today. I'd like you to become more familiar with your Grace. It should help you with your powers. Have you had any experience in finding your Grace?" Michael asked.

"Some. I had to do it when I was learning how to smite," Sam said.

"Well, I we're going to try it again, and once you do it here, I want you to do it once a day when you're at home. It will be much like meditation. You will find a calm place and then you will allow your Grace to come to the surface. You know what it feels like, right?" Michael asked.

"Yeah, like raw power," Sam said.

"You only felt the base of it before you got it to do what you want then. When you feel every aspect of it, it will feel warm and safe. You will like the feeling, believe me," Michael said.

"If I do this at home, is there a possibility of my powers lashing out?" Sam asked. He didn't want to risk hurting his dad.

"No, it shouldn't do anything if you're calm, unless you tell it to. Ready to start?" Michael asked.

Sam nodded.

Michael snapped his fingers and a comfortable chair appeared in front of Sam. "Sit down and close your eyes."

Sam did as he was told.

"Now, relax your mind and find a place inside you that's peaceful," Michael instructed.

Sam took several deep breaths and imagined himself driving with Dean in the Impala. That was when he was the most peaceful.

"Now, try to locate your Grace. Let it flow through your body," Michael said.

Sam tried to find the power he'd felt when he would smite. It didn't take nearly as long as he expected. He found the power in seconds. Michael was right. As he let it coerce through his body, he felt warmth. It was kind of like how he felt when Michael found out what he was, and his Grace reached out to protect him.

Sam was pulled away from his Grace seconds later. "Wow. That felt great."

Michael smiled. "It always does."

"Let's try it a few more times and then we'll move on," Michael said.

Sam shut his eyes and started again.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Metatron fumed as he walked through Heaven towards his desired destination. The nerve of Michael to speak to him like that. He was God's scribe. He was better than all of them. How dare that bastard threaten him, and all for that abomination. Well, Metatron wasn't going to take it lying down. He was going to get revenge, both on Michael and the Nephilim.

Metatron had asked around and found where Gabriel spent his time. He knocked do the door and waited.

Gabriel opened the door seconds later. He was surprised, and not pleasantly, to see who was there. "What the hell do you want?"

"Good to see you as well, brother," Metatron said.

"What do you want, Metatron?" Gabriel asked again.

"I came to do you a favor. You'd think you'd be a little more respectful," Metatron said.

Gabriel chuckled. "A favor, huh? I wouldn't be stupid enough to trust a favor from you even if I needed one."

"Even if it has to do with your kid?" Metatron asked. He was going to enjoy this so much, and it was only going to be the beginning.

Gabriel narrowed his eyes. "My kid is not up for discussion! Do not even mention him!"

"He's hanging around Michael," Metatron said just as Gabriel tried to slam the door in his face. He didn't know for sure that that was happening, but he was pretty sure. The two seemed familiar with each other, more so than just running into each other once and a while.

Gabriel stopped and opened the door again. "Excuse me."

"I just saw them. Your boy seemed real chummy with our oldest brother. They're even probably together right now. I can only guess you wouldn't like that much. After all, Michael did try to kill him," Metatron said. Chummy was a bit strong of a word, but he intended to exaggerate the situation to piss Gabriel off more.

"I don't know what you're trying to pull, Metatron, but you picked a bad lie. My son wouldn't have anything to do with Michael. Now, get lost, and stay away from my son!" Gabriel growled before slamming the door shut.

Gabriel stood by the door for a second, thinking about what Metatron told him. Sam wouldn't do that, right? No, he wouldn't. Sam hated Michael. He wouldn't have anything to do with the guy that took his brother away. And he knew better than to hide things from Gabriel by now. The kid wouldn't risk setting them back again, by hiding something like this from him. Metatron had to be lying.

While Gabriel was certain he was right, he decided to go find Sam anyway, just to ease his mind and prove Metatron a liar.


	11. Chapter 11

Gabriel walked into the garden, where Sam had told him he was spending all his days. Gabriel was sure he'd find his son here. He really came just to prove that he was right, and Metatron was a liar.

Gabriel found Joshua tending to some flowers several feet away. "Joshua."

Joshua turned and smiled when he saw the youngest archangel. "Gabriel! It's good to see you!"

"You too, Joshua," Gabriel said as he walked towards him. He briefly shook his hand. Joshua was one of his favorite seraphs. He missed him. "I should've come by to see you sooner. I've wanted to thank you how well you've treated my son.

"Of course. Sam is an extraordinary boy, albeit angry. I should admit that I don't know how I would've reacted to him if I didn't know for sure that God accepted him," Joshua said.

Gabriel shook his head. "I know you, Joshua. You would've at least given him a chance."

"I would like to think so," Joshua said.

"Where is he? I just need to talk to him for a second," Gabriel said. Proving himself right wasn't the only reason he came looking for Sam. He also wanted to warn Sam away from Metatron. If they had crossed paths, he wanted to try to ensure it didn't happen again. He didn't trust that bastard around his kid.

"Sam? I don't know. He isn't here," Joshua said.

"Maybe he got past you," Gabriel said. His stomach began to twist a little bit as he heard from Joshua that he had not seen his son, but as he said, Joshua just might not have seen him.

Joshua shook his head. "There is rarely anyone the garden besides myself. If he'd come through, I would've felt him."

"Was he here yesterday?" Gabriel asked.

"No."

Gabriel took a deep breath as anger began to build a bit. "When's the last time he was here?"

Joshua noticed the building anger, and realized that Sam just might be in some trouble. He hesitated in answering the archangel. He didn't want to make it worse for the young fledgling.

"Joshua," Gabriel pressed firmly and with authority.

"He was here for a few minutes maybe a week ago," Joshua reluctantly answered.

"A week. And before then?" Gabriel asked through gritted teeth. Sam claimed to be going to the garden every day. He'd lied to him.

"A couple of weeks before that. He comes very rarely these days," Joshua said.

"Thank you," Gabriel said before walking away. He was going to find Michael now, and he swore, if he found Sam with him, he was going to kill the kid. No, scratch that. He was already going to kill him just for lying to him. If he found him with Michael, he was going to kill him over and over again.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Gabriel banged loudly on Michael's office door. "Open the damned door!"

Just then, Lucifer's door opened, and he stepped out. "Gabriel? What are you doing?"

Gabriel turned to his brother. "I need to see Michael. Now."

Lucifer winced. He could think of only one reason Gabriel would want to talk to Michael. He found out about Sam. Lucifer could only hope that Sam told him, but he doubted it. He was pretty sure Sam was with Michael right now, which wouldn't have happened if Sam told his father the truth. "He's not here right now."

"Where is he?" Gabriel asked.

Lucifer didn't answer. To say he didn't know would be a lie, but he didn't want to tell on Sam, even if he did realize it was probably too late.

Gabriel narrowed his eyes and approached his older brother. He could tell just by his lack of response that Lucifer knew about Sam and Michael, which just pissed Gabriel off even more. "Where is my kid?!"

Lucifer sighed. That was proof enough that Gabriel knew. "He's with Michael."

"Yeah, I figured that much out! Where are they?! And how long have you known?!" Gabriel demanded to know.

"About two and half weeks. Gabriel…"

"Two and a half weeks?! You knew that piece of garbage was consistently around my kid and hid it from me?!" Gabriel asked loudly.

"Gabriel, calm down. Look, you're right to be pissed, but it's not as bad as it seems. Michael didn't…"

"He spent months trying to kill him, Lucifer! How is it not that bad! What would possibly make you think this was a good idea?! Oh, wait, I think I get it. If Michael was around Sam, he wasn't bugging you. You put my kid at risk to keep Michael out of your hair!" Gabriel shouted.

Lucifer's eyes hardened. "Don't even go there, Gabriel! I love Sam. I would never put him in danger for any reason!"

"Where is my son?!" Gabriel demanded to know.

"They're in the training room," Lucifer told him.

"Training? Training what? No, never mind. I'll find out myself!" Gabriel said angrily before he started walking away.

"Gabriel! Look, just try to calm down first!" Lucifer called after him.

Gabriel ignored his brother and continued his way. Fury only increased as he walked and digested everything he'd leaned. His son had been lying to him every single day for weeks. He had been hanging around the brother of Gabriel's that wanted him dead. If all that wasn't enough, Lucifer knew about it and kept it a secret. Basically, he was the last to know what was going on with his own son.

Gabriel stopped at the door of the training room and took a few deep breaths. Grudgingly, Gabriel had to admit that Lucifer was right about him needed to calm down slightly. Right now, he was ready to throttle Sam, and that was nothing compared to what he wanted to do to Michael.

Gabriel walked into the room just in time to see his son conjure fire a few feet between himself and Michael. If Gabriel made any progress at all with his temper, it all disappeared in that moment. Sam had hidden a power from him. He just kept piled the crap higher and higher.

"Good, you're improv…" Michael cut himself off as he felt the added presence in the room. He turned to see his younger brother several feet away.

Sam followed Michael's gaze. He wished he hadn't. His dad was here, and he was pissed.

"Someone should've told me there was a party," Gabriel said. His voice was calm, but anyone who knew him knew he was none to pleased. Michael remained quiet. He knew his brother was pissed, and speaking would've just made things worse for Sam. He felt no reason to do that.

Sam didn't take Michael's cue. He felt the need to say something. "Dad…"

Gabriel quickly raised a hand, letting his son know he did not want to hear it, and then he approached the kid.

Sam fought the urge to step back as his father advanced on him. He'd never seen his father this angry before. He had totally and completely screwed up this time.

"Go. Home," Gabriel said slowly in dangerously low tone. "So help me if you're not there when I get back!"

Sam gulped, but couldn't seem to get his legs to move.

"Now!" Gabriel growled.

That was all it took. Sam quickly scrambled to the door.

When Sam was gone, Gabriel grabbed Michael by the front of his shirt and slammed him against the nearest wall. "What did you think you were doing?!"

Michael could've stopped Gabriel, but he didn't. he decided to let his brother get some of his anger out. "Exactly what it looked like. I was teaching him."

"You have no business going anywhere near my son! What is your game?! You didn't do this out of the kindness of your heart. You wouldn't know what either of those things are. What, were you trying to make him miserable?" Gabriel asked angrily. He wouldn't put it past Michael to do this just to this just so he could tell Sam how evil he was.

"I was trying to protect Heaven," Michael answered.

"My son is not a danger!" Gabriel exploded.

"He is if he can't control his power," Michael retorted. It wasn't even a jab. It was just a fact.

"Stay away from my son! Any control he needs to learn will not be taught by you!" Gabriel snarled before punching his brother in the face. He let him fall to the floor and then he left.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Sam paced the living room anxiously. He was screwed, and he knew it. His father and figured everything out and he was livid. What the hell had he been thinking? Well, he knew what he was thinking. He didn't feel he could effectively train his fire power with his father. He would've been too afraid of hurting him. He had barely been able to train it with Michael for a while. So keeping it a secret seemed perfectly logical. Of course, that was before his father knew and was ready to explode. It no longer sounded like the best idea.

Sam really wished he'd at least taken Lucifer's advise when he told him to tell the truth. His dad would still be totally pissed, but it probably wouldn't be as bad as it was now. He really should've known that if Lucifer thought it was a bad idea, it was probably a bad idea. The guy was a textbook example defying one's father.

The door suddenly burst open and slammed closed, causing Sam to flinch and turn to face his father.

"Sit down! Now!" Gabriel yelled as he pointed to the couch.

"Dad, I'm…"

"Do not tell me you're sorry because you're not! You are sorry I caught your ass, that's all!" Gabriel cut off.

"No, that's not…"

"I said sit!" Gabriel commanded loudly.

Sam went over to the couch and sat down.

"Tell me how long," Gabriel ordered.

"Almost six weeks," Sam said timidly.

Gabriel felt his anger get even worse. His son had been lying to him for over a month. He'd lied every damned day. He'd told him he went to the garden. Worse, he'd used missing Dean as an excuse for it. "So where should I start, huh, Sam? With the fact that lied to me every day for six weeks? That you hid an extremely dangerous power from me? Or how about the fact that you were working with Michael? _Michael!"_

"Dad, I…"

"No, actually, I think I'll start by saying that when I was told what you were doing, I didn't believe it. I was sure it wasn't true. I couldn't even fathom that my son would betray my trust so amazingly," Gabriel said angrily.

Sam looked down at his hands in shame. He couldn't deny those words. That was exactly what he'd done.

"Eyes!" Gabriel shouted, indicating for Sam to look at him.

Sam immediately lifted his head back up. "Dad, I'm sorry. I just wanted…"

"I don't wanna hear it," Gabriel immediately cut off.

"I'm just trying to explain what…"

"I'm not listening to explanations right now. I couldn't even believe an explanation from you. I can't believe a word that comes from your lips," Gabriel said. That truly was the worst part. The Michael thing infuriated him, as did hiding powers from him, but none of it compared to the non-stop lies. He'd told Sam over and over again that lies meant distrust. He'd thought he finally gotten through to him, but obviously not. The lies just seemed to get bigger and bigger.

Sam flinched. Those words cut more than anything. His father didn't trust him, not even enough to let him explain himself. He knew he deserved some distrust, but he felt like he should at least be able to explain what happened and why.

Seeing no point in continuing this, Sam started to get up.

"Where do you think you're going? We're not through," Gabriel said firmly.

"You won't let me explain myself. What is there left to say?" Sam asked, with a bit of defiance in his voice. He was getting mad himself. He should at least be listened to.

Gabriel glared at Sam for even having the nerve to think of using that tone with him right now. "Oh, I have plenty left to say to you. Sit your ass back down!"

Sam lowered himself back onto the couch.

"For the most part, I've treated you like an adult, right? Aside from when it comes to safety, I pretty much let you make your own decisions, haven't I?" Gabriel asked.

Sam nodded. The only time his dad really gave orders was when he thought there was a danger.

"The only thing I asked of you is honesty and respect. You can't seem to give me either," Gabriel said.

"I haven't disrespected you," Sam protested.

"Lies are disrespect! This is not going to continue! I will not allow it! If that means things have to change between us, so be it," Gabriel said firmly.

"What does that mean?" Sam asked with fear in his voice.

"Maybe I've been doing this wrong. Maybe treating you like an adult isn't the best idea. After all, not all of you is an adult, and you can't seem to act like one, so I don't think you deserve to be treated like one. So, here's the way things are going to be. You've lost every freedom you had around here. Until I see fit, you will not leave this house without me, not for any reason. Is that understood?" Gabriel asked.

"No, you can't…"

"If you know what's good for you, you will not finish that sentence! Oh, and I don't think I need to tell you this, but your sessions with Michael are one hundred percent over. You'll train with me from now on," Gabriel told him.

"Dad, I can't train with…" Sam started, but one glare from his father immediately shut him up.

"I'm sorry, were you saying something, son?" Gabriel asked in a tone that meant there would be hell to pay if Sam continued to argue.

Sam quickly shook his head.

"I didn't think so."

"Can I go into the other room now," Sam asked. He couldn't take any more. He wanted to be alone, so he could drown in misery. Plus, he was getting mad himself and figured it wouldn't be a good idea to be around his dad anymore.

"I would strongly recommend it," Gabriel said.

Sam got up and quickly left the room.

Gabriel sat down on the couch and rubbed his hands over his face. Tears began to fall as the hurt and anger at the damaged relationship with his son took its toll.


	12. Chapter 12

Sam was laying in his bed the next morning staring at the ceiling. He'd been awake for about an hour or so, but he was in no rush to go out and see his dad. He knew his father was likely still wicked pissed at him, and honestly, Sam wasn't too happy either. He knew he screwed up, badly. He could not even pretend that he did not one hundred percent deserve his father's anger. But he also believed he deserved the chance to explain what happened. It might not make a difference, but he still deserved the opportunity.

Also, Sam wasn't thrilled with basically being grounded like an unruly teenager. Again, he knew he screwed up, but he was not a child, no matter how much every angel he came across wanted to treat him like one. He was twenty-six years old. He had long since outgrown this type of punishment.

Sam heard a knock before his door opened. He turned to see his father. Like he suspected, the archangel still looked totally pissed, though not quite as much as he was last night.

"Good, you're awake. I want you to get up, shower, and get dressed. We're going to train after breakfast," Gabriel said as calmly as he could. His anger had quelled, but not nearly as much as he'd hoped.

Sam sat up. "Do we really have to start that now?" He didn't want to do this. He knew it would be a disaster. He couldn't train with his dad. He was too scared he'd hurt him. It wouldn't work. Hell, it took a while to make it work with Michael, and he hated him.

"Yes, we do. I'm not screwing around with pyrokinesis. Get up and get ready," Gabriel ordered before walking out of the room.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

About an hour later, Sam was walking with his dad towards the training area. Needless to say, he wasn't happy. He got even less happy when they were almost there, noticed Metatron, the angel he'd run into the day before, in the halls. The angel was smirking smugly at him.

Sam stopped and glared. He realized then that it was Metatron who told his father. Before, he thought it was Lucifer, which had angered him more than a little since his uncle promised not to, but seeing Metatron's face, he knew it was him. Somehow, he must have figured it out when they met yesterday.

Gabriel noticed the exchange and glared at Metatron. He glared viciously at the scribe. He was glad to know about Sam and Michael, but he also knew Metatron had done it to hurt his kid, and that pissed him off. "Get lost, Metatron. Sam, let's go."

Sam gave one more glare before following his father. They walked for a couple more minutes before reaching their destination.

"Alright, let's go. Show me what you can do," Gabriel said when they were inside. He walked several paces past his son and turned towards him.

Sam raised his hand to begin, but before he could start, he heard the door open and shut. He turned to see Michael enter the room, after which he immediately groaned. This wasn't going to go over well.

"Get out!" Gabriel practically growled at his older brother.

Michael snapped his fingers and a chair and footstool appeared beside him. He sat down and put his feet up, all the while looking at his brother smugly. "You may be able to keep me from teaching him, little brother, but you can't stop me from watching. I have as much right to be in this room as you do."

Gabriel seethed. He was tempted to go and deck the little bastard, but he was sure that was what Michael wanted. He was trying to piss shim off, and while it was working, Gabriel wouldn't give him the satisfaction. "Alright, Sam, come on."

Once again, Sam raised his hand to start, but as he did, panic and fear rose inside him. He was terrified that he would hurt his dad, especially since he was kind of mad at him. His anger had a tendency to make this power much worse. Michael could attest to that.

"What are you doing? Why aren't you trying?" Michael asked after about five minutes of nothing happening.

"Shut up!" Gabriel snarled.

Michael ignored his brother. "You produced a full flame on command just yesterday. What is the problem now?"

"I said, shut up! Do not speak to my son!" Gabriel yelled.

"Look, I still don't have great control," Sam defended himself.

"You have better than this. It seems you've gone back three steps just because he's in the room," Michael said as he motioned to Gabriel.

Gabriel balled his hands into fists. Michael pissed him off more and more every time he spoke. It got even worse when the bastard tried to claim that he was holding his son back.

Sam could see that his dad was about to explode. "Michael, will you please just go? You're making things worse."

Michael looked at the boy for a moment. He wanted to stay. He knew from just five minutes he was better equipped to train Sam than his brother was, but he decided that he didn't need to make things more tense for the boy, so he got up and headed for the door.

Sam sighed in relief when Michael was out of the room. The fighting between the two archangels was just making him more anxious.

No sooner than the door to the room closed, it opened again. This time, Castiel came in. "Gabriel, I need to speak with you."

"Can it wait, Cas. I'm kind of busy," Gabriel asked.

"I'm not certain it can, no," Castiel said.

Gabriel sighed and turned to his son. "I'll be right back."

"It may take up quite a bit of your time, brother," Castiel said.

"Alright, we'll come back later, Sam. Go straight home. Do you understand?" Gabriel asked firmly.

Sam nodded.

Gabriel followed Castiel out of the room and they started walking. "What is it?"

"It's about Dean. He was injured during a hunt," Castiel said.

"Is he alright?" Gabriel asked concerned. He knew he wasn't dead. He would've known about that almost right away if he was.

"His injuries are not life threatening, at least not anymore, but he's in the hospital," Castiel said. When he learned his friend was hurt, he'd been very concerned. He wanted to heal his injuries, but he knew Dean would be upset if he did that, plus, Gabriel instructed he not make contact.

"How was he injured? Did he just miscalculate the danger or was he being reckless?" Gabriel asked.

"Well, I don't know if he did anything to intentionally get himself hurt, but Bobby said he urged Dean to take a partner, and he refused," Castiel said. The two of them stopped walking just outside where Castiel's garrison was normally stationed.

Gabriel sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. As far as he was concerned, this counted as being reckless. It was certainly enough to warrant a visit from him. "Where is he?"

"You are going? Dean asked not to be bothered. Did you not promise him you wouldn't?" Castiel asked.

"Yes, I did, and in turn, he promised not be reckless. And I promised if he was, I'd kick his ass. Now, where is he?" Gabriel asked again.

Castiel quickly gave him the name of the hospital Dean was at.

"Thanks, Cas. I'll be back as soon as I can," Gabriel said before flying away.

Both angels had been too preoccupied to notice the pair of eyes on them.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Metatron smirked to himself as he spotted eyes on the angel he was looking for. He had a plan, and he knew exactly who to get to carry it out. "Vashti."

"Metatron, what do you want?" Vashti asked with a sneer. He didn't think much of the scribe. The angel had disappeared thousands of years ago. He deserted them. Plus, he was egotistical prick. He should've been left on Earth, or executed when he was found. Before Lucifer took over, he would've been. Before Lucifer took over, a lot of things were different.

"Oh, I just thought you might want to know that Gabriel has left Heaven for little while. He apparently has business on Earth," Metatron said.

"And I should care about that?" Vashti asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, I've heard the things you've had to say about the Nephilim, at least when Castiel isn't nearby," Metatron said.

"What does that abomination have to do with anything?" Vashti asked.

"Well, isn't now the perfect time to take him out, or at least put him in his place?" Metatron asked. He doubted they'd be able to kill him, at least at this point, but they could make the little bastard pay for existing, and it would cause problems between the archangels. Gabriel would likely blame Michael, whom Metatron was still determined to get back at.

"Are you stupid, Metatron? As much as I'd love to put that thing out of its misery, I'd be signing my death warrant," Vashti said. He was tempted, really, but he wasn't totally stupid. He'd just have to wait until Michael took control again. He'd ascertain the abomination's destruction.

"No, Michael would protect you. He'd see promoted for it," Metatron assured him. He knew how to get what he wanted from this angel. Vashti was a fanatic for Michael. He would do anything if he thought it would gain him Michael's attention.

Vashti thought about it for a minute. He was sure Michael hadn't meant a word he said when he stepped down. Michael was just waiting for the right moment to take Lucifer out and take back what was rightfully his. If Vashti took out the Nephilim, he could help the eldest archangel in that regard. Once it was done, Michael would be so proud. "Maybe you're right."

Metatron smiled. "You shouldn't kill him right away though. Make him suffer for existing. And don't do it alone. The power of a Nephilim shouldn't be underestimated."

Vashti smiled cruelly. "I know a few who would love to help."

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

Sam didn't go home right away. He knew he should've. He would only anger his dad more if he didn't, but he wanted a few minutes before he was essentially under lock and key again, he just walked around Heaven for about ten minutes.

Sam was just about to go back when he felt a tap on the shoulder. He turned around to find an angel, who was named Thaddeus. "Yeah."

"Hi, sorry to bother you, but Lucifer is looking for you," the angel said.

"Uh, I have to go home. My dad…"

"He says it's important. I can't return without you," Thaddeus said urgently.

Sam started to worry. Something must have happened for Lucifer to demand his presence that way. Was it his dad? Did something happen when he left with Cas. "Okay, I'll go to his office."

"He's not in his office. He's in the assembly hall. I'll take you."

Sam nodded. He followed Thaddeus a couple of hallways down until they came to a large room. He walked inside and found about five or six other angels there. Lucifer was nowhere to be seen, and those that were they did not look like they had good intentions towards him.

Sam proved to be right when all the angels produced angel blades and attacked him.


	13. Chapter 13

Gabriel appeared right outside Dean's room. He found Bobby sitting in a chair next to the door. "Bobby."

Bobby turned to see Gabriel. "I had a feeling I'd be seeing you." He knew Cas would be reporting what happened to Dean to Gabriel, and the archangel would come down to express his displeasure to Dean. Bobby couldn't blame him either. He had his own displeasure to express.

"What happened?" Gabriel asked.

"He got a chuck taken out of his gut, plus he was banged up a bit. But he's going to be okay. We could've avoided the whole thing if the idjit had taken my advice," Bobby grumbled.

"What was he hunting?" Gabriel asked.

"Werewolves. More than one. It's why I told him to take a partner," Bobby said.

"For the love of Dad! I should just kill them both," Gabriel said to no one in particular as he looked at the ceiling.

"Both? Sam grating on your nerves too?" Bobby asked.

"To put it mildly," Gabriel grumbled. In then told the old hunter what had been going on with Sam in the last month and a half.

"Damn! What the hell was that boy thinking?" Bobby asked. The kid had really outdone himself this time. What was he thinking trusting an angel that wanted to kill him with training him? And then to not even tell anyone. Anything could've happened with that asshole archangel.

"Nothing! Lack of thought is clearly the problem. The kid never thinks of the consequences of his actions!" Gabriel said in frustration.

"That would be a big Winchester trait. It seems even just raised as one brings it out. I'm serious though, what was he thinking? Why'd he do it?" Bobby asked.

"I don't know."

"You didn't make him tell you?" Bobby asked surprised. From what he'd heard, the archangel had no problem exerting his authority with the boys. He was pretty firm as parents went. Bobby found it hard to believe Gabriel wouldn't get his answers.

Gabriel sighed and sat down next to the hunter. "He tried. I wouldn't let him. I'd just found I'd been lied to constantly for six weeks. I didn't really want to hear what he had to say."

"Don't you want to know?" he asked.

"It wouldn't make much difference. I won't change the fact that I can't trust my own son. I do not tolerate lies, and I have been over this with him over and over again," Gabriel said.

"Yeah, I get it. Still, I'd want an explanation. Plus, he deserves the chance to at least explain himself, even if it makes no difference at all," Bobby said.

Gabriel thought about it for a minute. He supposed the old man had a point. Sam should at least get to tell his side of the story. Gabriel doubted it would change much on his position on the matter, but it was only fair that he listen. "I guess I went a little far. I was just too angry to hear anything he had to say."

"I've been there. One time when they were around sixteen and Twelve, John dropped them off for a week. Dean met a group of kids in down and they invited him to a party. He snuck out and took Sam with him. Dean was drinking heavy, and Sam had even had a drink. I nearly throttled them both," Bobby said.

Gabriel smiled. "It actually didn't happen that way. Dean told you that to protect Sam from most of your wrath. Dean never took Sam to that party. Sam followed him. Dean didn't even know he was there for a good hour or so. And Sam didn't consume a drop of alcohol. I made sure of that. I would've stopped him from getting there period If I'd been around for it. I got there just after they got to the party."

"Huh. It doesn't surprise me that Dean would lie for Sam. He'd protect that kid with his life," Bobby said.

"Speaking of Dean, is he unconscious?" Gabriel asked.

"He's in and out. They have him on pain meds," Bobby said.

"Well, I'm gonna go wake him and have a little chat with him," Gabriel said before standing up and heading into the room. He found Dean sleeping in the hospital bed. Gabriel touched his forehead to wake him. He also made sure to take away the side affects of the drugs, while allowing them to continue to numb his pain.

When Dean opened his eyes and saw Gabriel standing over, he knew he was screwed. He wasn't dead, so he knew the archangel was there to ream his ass out. "Hi, Gabriel."

Gabriel smiled falsely, letting Dean know in his own way that he was none too pleased.

"Hi, Dean."

"So how you been?" Dean asked in a half-assed attempt to lighten the mood just slightly.

It didn't' work. Gabriel glared at him. "I've had better days, son. You see my kid just nearly got himself killed by either being stupid or reckless. I haven't figured out which one is worse yet."

Dean was torn between being worried about getting his ass kicked or touched that Gabriel had called him 'son'. In the end, he decided he was a little bit of both. "It's not my fault. The job's dangerous."

"I'm aware of that. That's why I wish you wouldn't do it. However, if you're going to, you need to be careful with it! Which you were not! You were reckless!" Gabriel growled.

"No, I wasn't. I used the same precautions I always have in the past, I swear," Dean said. He couldn't deny there were times when he wanted to be reckless, just for the possibility of joining his family in Heaven, but he never did, mainly because he knew this exact scene would happen.

"Really? So you weren't advised to take a partner, and you didn't decline it?" Gabriel asked with a raised eyebrow.

Dean cringed, and mentally cursed Bobby for ratting him out to his archangel 'adoptive' father. "I…I thought I could do it myself. I swear, I wasn't trying to get killed."

Gabriel looked at him for a minute. He did believe him, but it seemed like there was more to it than that. "I believe you, but I want you to tell me the real reason you didn't take a partner."

"I told you, I thought I could…"

"The truth, Dean," Gabriel said firmly.

Dean sighed. "I…I can't have a partner. It wouldn't be right."

Gabriel grabbed a chair from the corner and brought it over before sitting down. "Why's that, kiddo. You think if you let someone help you, it means your replacing your brother?"

Dean looked away and didn't speak.

"Dean, Sam wouldn't see it that way. He would want you to be safe. That means taking help sometimes. You can't stop living your life because we're not here anymore. You have to go on," Gabriel said.

Dean still remained silent.

"Would you be happy if your brother was miserable without you?" Gabriel asked.

"No, of course not! He's not, is he?" Dean asked worried.

"It's a hypothetical question, Dean. You want your brother to be happy, even without you. He wants the same for you. And he'd want you to take a partner if it kept you safe. You need to promise me that if it looks like you need help, you'll take it," Gabriel said.

"I don't know if I can," Dean said. He knew Gabriel was right, but he just didn't feel comfortable working with anyone but Sam. He knew Sam wouldn't see it that way, Dean would feel like he was betraying him.

"It's not a request, son. You give me your word, or you don't hunt anymore," Gabriel said sternly.

"You can't stop me from hunting," Dean protested.

Gabriel raised an eyebrow. "Do you really wanna test me on that?"

Dean promptly shut his mouth. He did not want to test him. As an archangel, Gabriel's reach was pretty high. Dean was positive he could stop him. "Alright. I promise to take help if I need it."

Gabriel smiled. "Thank you."

"Are you leaving now?" Dean asked.

"Do you want me to?" Gabriel asked.

"Well, I know I told you not to come, but since you're already here, you might as well stay for a little while," Dean said.

Gabriel could read between the lines. Dean wouldn't say it out loud, but he wanted him there. "Sure, kiddo."

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Sam found himself being attacked at all angles. He physically pushed the angels off of him as best he could, there were at least six of them. As soon as he got one off of him, another took his place. The only way to stop them would be to use his powers, which he was reluctant to do. If he attacked them, even to defend himself, he proved them right.

The next thing Sam knew, he was on the ground. A few of them were holding him down, while the others approached him with blades. He was starting to get worried. If he didn't get them off of him, they were going to kill him.

Soon, Sam's wings began to unfold and flap wildly.

"You wanna try that, you little abomination? I can fix it," one of the angels said cruelly while raising his blade to one of the wings.

Sam let out a very loud and inhuman scream as the blade sliced into his wings.

Xxxxxxxxxx

Michael was in his office when he heard it. An angel screaming. An angel's screams weren't like a human's. When an angel was being subjected to the worst kind of pain, he let out a loud noise that would blow out a human's eardrums. To them it was nothing but unbearable noise. To an angel, it was the scream of bloody murder.

Michael was out of his office in seconds. He saw Lucifer come out of his own office, but he didn't stop to take to him. He simply ran as fast as he could to try to find the distressed angel.

Lucifer followed closely behind Michael with the same objective.

A bunch of other angels entered the halls, all wondering what was going on.

"Out of the way!" Michael demanded as he continued to run, knocking down several seraphs in his wake. He would've flown or teleported, but he had no idea who was in trouble or where they were.

Suddenly Heaven began to shake in the worst Earthquake that had ever been felt, causing many angels to yell in chaos.

Michael and Lucifer both stopped and looked at each other, having a conversation with just their eyes. They both knew that the Earthquake was caused by whatever angel was hurt. No seraph had that power. That meant it was either Gabriel, which seemed unlikely, or Sam.

With a person in mind, both archangels had the ability to fly to the person in need. They immediately disappeared.

Michael was the first to arrive, and he swore the sight would haunt until the end of his life, should it ever actually end. Sam was withering on the ground screaming. Blood and Grace was leaking through a torn wing. The rest of his wings were out of control with the way they moved.

The rest of the angels were scattered on the ground, clearly having been thrown back by the hurt young Nephilim.

Lucifer showed up at that moment and gasped in horror. "Oh, Father, no!"

Michael watched as an idiotic angel got up and walked towards Sam again, his blade pointed at the boy. That was really all that was necessary for Michael to see red.


	14. Chapter 14

Michael felt white hot rage flow through him as this idiot seraph had the nerve to attempt to attack Sam right in front of himself and Lucifer. He didn't quite understand why he felt such rage, since it wasn't too long ago that he would've attacked the boy, but he didn't care to understand either. It wasn't important in that moment. The only thing that was important was seeking justice.

Michael made an upward motion with his hand, lifting the brazen seraph off the ground. "You dare attack not just once, but a second time right in front of us?!"

The angel looked in fear. This bravery had completely dissipated in the face of the eldest archangel's wrath. "I…I thought you want the abomination destroyed, sir?"

Again, Michael was faced with anger he didn't know how to explain. Hearing the word 'abomination' had for the first time left him angry, even though he'd said it himself many times. "That is an error you won't live to regret, Vashti." With that, he snapped his fingers and watched as the angel's body completely imploded.

Michael was far from satisfied. He had intended to finish the rest of the cowards off as well, but the Earthquake that was being caused by Sam's out of control Grace got worse. The Grace Michael used to kill Vashti probably made the situation worse.

Lucifer snapped his fingers, transferring the five remaining angels to cells. He was tempted to finish what Michael started, but helping Sam was more important than revenge. They could be dealt with later.

Lucifer immediately went to go to his nephew's side.

"Lucifer, wait!" Michael yelled. It was too late though. As soon as Lucifer got close to Sam, he was thrown away from the Nephilim.

Lucifer pulled himself up off the floor just as Michael made his way over to him.

"He can't control his Grace. It's trying to protect him, and it sees anyone with Grace as a threat. We're going to have to stifle our Grace before we can get near him.

Lucifer nodded and did his best to push his Grace as far inside of him as he could.

Michael did the same, and then both archangels cautiously made their way over. Michael knelt down and winced as he got a good look at Sam's upper left wing. It was torn up pretty badly. The rest of his wings were flapping uncontrollably, to the point where Michael had to work hard to avoid them.

Lucifer knelt on the other side of his nephew. He went to touch him, but then thought better of it. He didn't to possible cause Sam to lose control worse. "Sam."

Sam could barely hear what was being said. He was in so much pain. He'd been hurt before, but never like this. This was the worst pain he'd ever felt. Plus, he felt like his Grace was engulfing him, which didn't feel so good, as it felt like it was draining him.

"Sam, you're safe now, okay? We're going to help you," Lucifer promised. He could barely keep his voice steady. Seeing his nephew like this was breaking him.

Surprisingly, Michael wasn't doing much better. He could see the agony all over his young nephew's face. It reminded him very much of Gabriel when he was in pain. And with those thoughts, Michael realized something. Never once had he recognized this boy as his nephew, not even in his own mind. To him, Sam had been nothing more than a being that shouldn't have been created. Michael never saw him as a part of his family. But right now, he realized that that was exactly what Sam was.

Sam didn't respond to Lucifer. He simply continued to yell out and squirm on the floor.

Michael tentatively reached out and place a hand on Sam's head. "It's okay, Sam."

Sam flinched for a second, but then realized that the touch was not painful. It was in fact very gentle.

"It's over, little one. We will not let anyone hurt you anymore," Michael promised.

Lucifer looked at his brother in shock. He hadn't seen his brother like this since before he rebelled, and Michael cast him into Hell. He was so gentle. He was the brother that Lucifer loved.

"M…Michael?" Sam asked with pain in his voice.

"Yes. I know this is a lot to ask right now, but we need you to attempt to calm yourself down. Your Grace is out of control right now because you are so afraid, and we can't help you until it calms," Michael said. They didn't dare try to heal Sam until his Grace calmed down. It wouldn't even tolerate the presence of their Grace right now.

"S…sorry," Sam ground out.

"No, it's not your fault, Sam. You couldn't control it. Plus, it is a good thing it happened. It protected you long enough for us to get here. But you're safe now. We just need you to calm down," Lucifer said.

"I…I don't know if I can," Sam said.

"Just try to think of a safe place. Take your time," Michael said as he gently ran his fingers through his nephew's hair.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Meanwhile, Gabriel had been with Dean when all Hell broke loose. He'd been chatting with him when he heard an angel's scream blast through 'Angel radio'. He hadn't had much time to dwell on it before a massive earthquake began. He was immediately able to tell that it wasn't a normal earthquake, and given the scream he'd just heard, he was sure it had something to do with Heaven.

"What the hell's going on?" Dean asked.

Gabriel raised his hand and used his Grace to ensure nothing would hit his son during the quake. He kept this up for nearly an hour before it finally ended.

"What the hell?" Dean asked again.

"No, not Hell," Gabriel said.

"Bobby!" Dean suddenly exclaimed.

"I'll go check on him," Gabriel said. He went outside and found Bobby on the ground, pinned under some debris. He waved his hand and everything on top of Bobby flew off of him. "You okay, Bobby?"

Bobby groaned and pulled himself up. "Yeah, I'm good. What the hell was up with that? Earthquakes rarely hit this state."

"That wasn't a natural quake," Gabriel said as he looked towards the ceiling. Something was wrong, and he was terrified that whatever it was might have involved his son.

Bobby could tell what Gabriel meant by that, and that he was quite worried. "Go. I've got Dean. Just come back and tell us what's up when you can."

Gabriel nodded and disappeared.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

The first thing Gabriel did when he returned to Heaven was go to the house. He became increasingly more worried when Sam was not there. Then, he wondered around looking for answers. There were angels all over the place quite shaken by the events. Gabriel stopped a few of them, but none of them knew anything that Gabriel didn't already know.

Gabriel flew to Lucifer's office after that, but there was no sign of him. He even checked Michael's office, but no one was there either. Then he decided to go see Castiel.

Castiel was with several members of his garrison looking worried.

"Cas," Gabriel called out.

Castiel immediately ran over to his older brother.

"What happened?" Gabriel asked.

"I'm not sure. All I know is that an angel was hurt so badly that they caused an Earthquake that rocked Heaven. I can only assume that it hit Earth as well. But to my knowledge, not seraph has that power," Castiel said.

"They don't. Cas, I can't find Sam," Gabriel said with fear in his voice.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Michael and Lucifer were still by Sam's side, who was beginning to calm some. "You're doing well, little one. We'll be able to help you soon." Michael said.

"Maybe we should test the waters a little," Lucifer said.

Michael nodded. "Sam, our Grace is stifled right now. I'm going to allow some of it out, alright?"

"Okay," Sam groaned.

Michael allowed some of his Grace to the forefront. He then felt a little flare from Sam's Grace. It was essentially telling him to tread lightly. "Not yet."

Lucifer nodded.

"I'm sorry," Sam said.

"None of this is your fault, Sam," Lucifer said firmly.

"It is. They…. They tricked me. They said you wanted to see me," Sam told Lucifer.

Lucifer felt anger build up as he learned that those bastards had used him to get to Sam. They would be punished severely, to the point where they would wish they'd received Vashti's fate. There would be no mercy. "It's not your fault that you were tricked."

"I…I wasn't even supposed to be out there. I was supposed to go back to the house, but I didn't. My d…dad's gonna be mad," Sam said. He'd been so stupid. If he'd just done what he was told, this wouldn't have happened.

"No, he will not be angry at you," Lucifer promised.

"Gabriel will understand that this is not your fault. You must understand that as well," Michael said.

"It's partially my fault at least. It's my fault it got this bad. I didn't fight them. I…I didn't want to hurt them, and I didn't want to prove them right about me," Sam said.

Michael closed his eyes sadly. That was on him. Michael had said so much to Sam about how he was a danger. His nephew had held back because he was afraid that he was right.

"D…did I hurt them?" Sam wondered.

"No, but we will," Michael swore.

"We should give healing him a shot, Mike," Lucifer said. It had been over an hour. He couldn't bare seeing his nephew in pain any longer.

Michael nodded. "Sam, listen to me. We need to start healing your wing, but it will not be as simply as any angel healing you've seen in the past. Your wings hold the majority of your Grace. For that reason it takes longer to heal. We will need to do it in stages within the next several hours. And this is the most important thing you need to know. It is going to hurt, a lot.

Sam gulped just at the prospect, but he couldn't imagine it hurting anymore than it already did. "O…Okay."

Lucifer looked at his brother and nodded to him. Sam was already responding to his Grace. It was best that he did it.

Michael placed his hand on Sam's injured wing and pushed his Grace into it.

Sam screamed loudly.

Lucifer grabbed his hand. "It's okay. It's gonna be alright."

Michael took his hand away after a few seconds. "Okay. It's over for now.

Sam was breathing heavily. Things felt a little better now, but it still hurt quite a bit.

"Let's get him out of here," Lucifer said as he stood up.

"Sam, we're going to take you to the infirmary. You'll be able to rest," Michael said before getting up.

"What about my dad? Where is he?" Sam asked. Even if he was sure his father would be angry with him, he wanted him. It might seem weak and childish, but he wanted his father.

"We're going to get him," Lucifer promised.

"I'm not sure teleporting or flying him is the best idea with that wing. I think we should get him on a bed and wheel him there," Michael said.

"Agreed," Lucifer said. He snapped his fingers and a stretcher appeared underneath Sam.

Sam was a bit startled by the sudden feeling of a bed under him, but he got over it quick, and was glad for small comfort.

Lucifer began speaking on 'Angel Radio'. "Gabriel, I need you to meet us at the infirmary. Everything is alright."

Michael and Lucifer carefully wheeled Sam out of the room. As they walked, several angels looked on. Some looked shocked, and some even looked horrified at the Nephilim's condition.

They got halfway to their destination when they ran into Gabriel. "Oh, Dad! Sam."

"Dad?" Sam asked.

"I'm here, son. Everything's okay," Gabriel said in broken voice. He looked over at his son's injured wing and nearly fell apart at the sight. Someone had torn his son's wing almost to shreds.

"I'm sorry, Dad," Sam cried.

"No, son. Whatever happened, it isn't your fault," Gabriel said as he ran a hand through his son's hair.

The stress and the power surge from earlier finally took its toll on Sam and he shut his eyes, quickly falling asleep.

"What the hell happened?" Gabriel demanded to know.

"Let's get Sam to the infirmary. I swear, we'll explain then," Lucifer promise.

Gabriel nodded and took a hold of one of the rails of the stretcher, leading the way to the infirmary.


	15. Chapter 15

Gabriel stood at his son's bedside in the infirmary as he slept. There were tears in his eyes as he peered down at him. Sam was on his back and his injured wing was extended as far as it could go. It was bound with Grace to keep Sam from accidently moving it. The thing was torn almost to ribbons.

Gabriel couldn't believe what had happened to his boy in the short time he'd been gone. The poor kid must have been tortured for this to happen. What had Gabriel been thinking leaving him. He should've at the very least gotten someone to stay with Sam while he went to see Dean. Cas would've stayed if he'd asked. Why hadn't he? He knew his son was hated and feared by most angels. He should've known better than to leave him alone.

"Gabriel," Lucifer called out.

Gabriel reluctantly led the way to one of the far corners of the room, so he didn't disturb his son while they spoke.

Michael and Lucifer followed their brother, though Michael stayed a few feet back. Gabriel probably wouldn't welcome him being too close right now.

"Tell me what happened?" Gabriel commanded.

"He was attacked by a group of angels," Lucifer said.

"A group of them?" Gabriel asked furiously. It was bad enough that his kid was attacked, but the damned cowards had to outnumber him? They stacked the odds against him, so he wouldn't have a chance of getting away.

Lucifer nodded. "There were six of them."

"Six. Where are they now?" Gabriel asked. He was going to tear each one of them apart as slowly as possible. They would regret laying a finger on his son.

"Five of them are in cells, and the other is dead," Lucifer told him.

Gabriel glanced at his sleeping son. "Did he do it?"

"No, I did," Michael finally spoke.

"When we got there, all six of them had been thrown away from Sam, presumably during a spontaneous burst of power from his out of control Grace. One particularly cocky son of a bitch, got up to attack Sam again, right in front of us. Michael lost his temper. I wasn't far away from him. If he hadn't killed the bastard, I would've." Lucifer said firmly. He'd vowed when he took over that he would've do as Michael had in the past. He wouldn't punish his siblings too harshly, and certainly not without some sort of trial. But that was before he saw his fledgling nephew with his wing torn up.

Gabriel looked at Michael shocked. "Why?"

"I don't really understand everything myself, but when I saw what they did to him, I was more pissed then I've ever been in my life," Michael said. He still didn't understand why he reacted the way he did. Well, he understood that it made him angry. He understood that he was, and still was, concerned for Sam, but he didn't understand how and when it came to be that he felt that way. At some point, he stopped seeing Sam as a being that shouldn't exist, and started seeing his brother's son. He just didn't know when it happened.

"Gabriel, you should know that Michael is the only reason we're not still in that room trying to calm Sam's Grace down. You felt the quake, I'm sure. You know his Grace was uncontrollable. Michael sat with him and patiently got him calm.

"You would've if I hadn't," Michael said.

Gabriel looked over at his son sadly. "This shouldn't have happened. I shouldn't have left him. They took advantage of me not being here."

"It's not your fault, Gabriel. Blaming yourself only takes blame away from them. However, on the issue of blame, you should know that Sam blames himself," Lucifer said.

"I got that. He said he was sorry. Why is he blaming himself?" Gabriel asked.

"In part, because they tricked him. They told him I'd asked to see him," Lucifer said through gritted teeth. It still pissed him off that he'd been used to hurt his nephew.

"That doesn't make it his fault," Gabriel said.

"No, but I think he feels like a fool for believing it. Plus, he feels guilty. He told us that you ordered him to go back to your place and he didn't do so. He's afraid you'll be angry with him," Lucifer explained.

Gabriel sighed. Under normal circumstances, he might be angry that his son disobeyed him, and he couldn't say he was exactly thrilled about it, but right now, he didn't have it in him to be angry with Sam. Besides, disobeying him did not mean Sam deserved to be tortured. "He'll be relieved of that notion the second he opens his eyes."

Lucifer nodded. "We tried to tell him that, but he clearly needs to hear it from you."

"He will," Gabriel said before going back over to his son. "I need to be alone with my son."

"Okay. Just call if you need anything. And, Gabriel, I promise you these bastards will pay for what they've done," Lucifer said.

"Damn right they will," Gabriel said before taking a seat next to his son.

Lucifer headed out of the room. Michael started to follow him, but stopped and turned back. "Gabriel, I'm going to have to come back in a few hours. My Grace was used to start healing him, which means it has to be my Grace that finishes the job."

Gabriel nodded. "That's fine." He was still quite surprised by the way his brother was reacting, but he didn't care enough to question him right now. Sam was the only thing that mattered to him right now. "Thank you, Michael."

Michael nodded and walked towards the door.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

After leaving the infirmary, Michael went back to his office. He found it a bit torn apart due to the Earthquake caused by Sam's Grace. He snapped his fingers and his office returned to normal.

Michael walked over and sat behind his desk. He looked down at his hands, which were shaking with rage. Now that Sam was okay, white hot anger returned. All He could do was picture was those monsters slicing up his wing. It took everything Michael had not to go down to the prison and slice through all of theirs.

Along with rage came confusion. He didn't understand how he was feeling or when he began to feel that way. He didn't recall ever thinking of Sam this way. He had been a bit unsure with him for the last few weeks, but he didn't remember ever actually caring about him. When had it happened.

There was soon a knock at Michael's door before it opened. "Michael?"

Michael looked over to see Lucifer. "I never expected this to happen, Lucifer."

Lucifer knew his brother was not talking about Sam's attack. "I know you didn't. Truthfully, until a few weeks ago, I wouldn't have expected it to either.

"I don't understand. When did it happen? How?" Michael asked in bewilderment.

"I can only answer the how. I don't think the when really matters anyway. Sam. That's how. It's just who he is and what he does to people," Lucifer said with a fond smile. He found it amazing the affect his young nephew had other people. He was evidence of that affect. Still, he never would've guessed that Sam would have the ability to change Michael. He didn't think anyone had that kind of power.

Michael didn't speak. He was still trying to figure out what exactly happened that he started carrying about the boy he once wanted dead.

Lucifer walked over and sat down in front of his brother's desk. "You never stood a chance, Mike. I didn't realize it, but he was always going to break through your thick skull without even trying. It's not a bad thing. He's a great kid. He deserves to be loved by everyone in his life, including you."

Michael nodded. He couldn't say he loved Sam yet, but if this was how he felt after just six weeks of constantly being around him, he knew he would soon enough. "It seems like it just snuck up on me. Is that how it was for you?"

"Not exactly. I didn't have the same necessity to please the old man as you do. I haven't exactly hidden that I've been pissed at him. I didn't care about his rules. So I embraced Sam from the beginning. But that doesn't mean he didn't change me. After all, I'm not trying to take over Earth, am I?" Lucifer asked.

"I don't know what to do, Lucifer. I care about him. I can't deny it, not after today," Michael said.

"Why would you want to? What's so bad about it?" Lucifer asked curiously. He wanted to know what was going through his brother's head. Why was he bothered by it?

"Father outlawed him. He ordered that any Nephilim that is created be destroyed. If he comes back and wants Sam killed…"

"That's not going to happen, Michael. Sam told you the truth when he said Dad spoke to him. He doesn't want Sam hurt," Lucifer said with a bit of frustration in his voice. He thought Michael was finally starting to see that he was wrong about that, or at least that he might be wrong about it.

"I am starting to believe that. I at least believe that it's a possibility. But it's irrelevant, Lucifer. It's the implication. If Father came to me and said he wanted Sam destroyed, I couldn't do it. I can't hurt him, and I won't allow anyone else to hurt him either. Not even God's word could make me do that at this point," Michael said. That was truly frightening to him. He'd never put anything above his father's will, but he knew he would if it meant protecting Sam. If he was asked to hurt his nephew, he would not be able to be the good son anymore, and do as he was told. He would rebel, just as Lucifer had. He would not hurt that boy.

Lucifer took in the words, finally understanding his brother's fear. The fact that he would defy their father if it was necessary to protect Sam meant was a very difficult thing for Michael to accept. It would mean that there were circumstances in which he would defy the old man's orders. "Well, Michael, maybe that's a good thing. You've been living for Dad for too long, to the point where you've been obsessed with following his will. You haven't been happy, I know that. Stopping living for him. Start living for you. Believe me, he's not gonna come down to thank you for throwing your life away for him. It's high time to go on, Michael."

Michael leaned back in his chair. For once, he didn't argue with his brother on the matter. For the first time in a long time, he wondered if maybe Lucifer was right.


	16. Chapter 16

Gabriel was sitting beside Sam gently touching his hair as he slept. He hadn't moved so much as an inch since Lucifer and Michael left. He sat there and watched his son sleep, and vowed never to let something like this happen again.

Gabriel soon heard someone enter the room. He turned to see Castiel. "Hey, bro."

"Hello, brother. I apologize if I'm bothering you. I couldn't wait to see how he was," Castiel said. From the moment he found out what happened to Sam, he'd wanted to rush over, but Lucifer told him Gabriel wished to be alone with Sam.

"You're not. Come on over," Gabriel said.

Castiel walked over to them. He gasped when he got a look at Sam's wing. Lucifer told him what happened, but it was different than actually seeing Sam's torn wing. He just couldn't believe what those… monsters had done to his nephew. Harming an angel's wing was one of the worst things you could do. It got even worse when that angel was a fledgling.

"It'll heal. It'll just take a couple times. Wings are the hardest to heal," Sam said.

"Gabriel, I'm sorry. Most of those angels were from my garrison," Castiel said. He felt very bad about this. He should've been paying more attention to the angels under his command.

"It's not your fault, Cas. You didn't know what they were planning. I know you would've stopped them if you had," Gabriel said.

Castiel nodded. "It's likely that Vashti was the leader of all of them. He was the one that was most vocal about Sam since it was revealed that he existed, at least in my garrison. He's also very much a Michael supporter. Do you think Michael ordered this?" From what he gathered, Michael was the one to kill Vashti, but that could be to make sure the angel couldn't tell anyone he was responsible.

"No, I don't. Michael is the one that started to heal Sam. I don't know why, but he helped my son. Plus, he had plenty of opportunities to hurt Sam, but he didn't," Gabriel said. He didn't think much of his older brother, but he didn't believe he had anything to do with what happened to Sam.

"What do you mean?" Castiel asked.

Gabriel realized that Cas hadn't known about the training that Michael had been giving Sam over the last month and a half. He quickly filled the seraph in.

Castiel was more than a little bit shocked. He couldn't believe his nephew would willingly work with Michael for over a month after everything the archangel had done. "Why would Sam do that?"

"I don't know. I was too angry to let him tell me. I'm gonna have to rectify that mistake when he's better," Gabriel said. He regretted the way he reacted even more so now that Sam was hurt. He would make it right as soon as he could. He couldn't say he wouldn't still be angry, but he would at least listen and try to understand.

"I can understand why that would make you angry," Castiel said.

"Yeah, but I should've waited until I was at least a little calmer before I talked to him. Listen, Cas, I need you to do something for me," Gabriel said.

"Anything," he said immediately.

"I had to leave Dean and Bobby pretty abruptly after that earthquake. They know something's wrong. I need you to go and let them know that everything is alright," Gabriel said. He wouldn't be able to go himself, at least not for a while. He couldn't even think of leaving Sam right now.

"Is there anything I should omit?" Castiel asked.

"Well, if you can spare some of the details, please do, but I doubt that's going to be possible. Both Dean and Bobby will insist on knowing everything, and they won't stop worrying until they do," Gabriel said.

"Alright," Castiel said before flying away.

Gabriel heard a groan from right next to him. He immediately turned his attention back to his son, who was just starting to open his eyes. "Hey, kiddo."

"Dad?" Sam asked.

"I'm right here," Gabriel said before brushing a bit of Sam's hair back.

"Where am I?" Sam asked, not recognizing his surroundings.

"You're in Heaven's infirmary. You're gonna be okay," Gabriel promised.

Sam thought back a little. He vaguely remembered Michael telling him they were taking him to the infirmary. "I'm sorry, Dad."

"No, none of that, Sammy. This is not your fault," Gabriel said firmly.

"I…I disobeyed you," Sam said.

"I know. You don't need to worry about it. I'm not angry," Gabriel promised.

"Will you be later?" Sam asked. He was smart enough to know that sometimes a trauma diluted an angry reaction, but it might come back once things were better.

Gabriel chuckled a little. "All things considered, I think we can let this one go. You shouldn't have disobeyed me, but It's a small thing, and I see no reason to dwell on it now. I don't want you to either. No matter what, you didn't deserve what happened to you."

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything," Sam said.

Gabriel sighed and nodded. "When this is over, you and I will sit down and have a talk, a real one, not just me yelling. I promise, you'll have a chance to tell me your side."

"Really?"

"Yes. I'm sorry for not listening before," Gabriel said

Gabriel soon heard someone clear their throat behind him. He turned to see Michael.

"I don't mean to interrupt anything, but I need to heal him," Michael said.

Sam stiffened as he heard that. He remembered how much it hurt when Michael started healing him earlier. He didn't want to feel that again. "No!"

Gabriel turned back to his son and took his hand. "Hey, it's okay, son. It will only hurt for a few seconds."

"No, it kills!" Sam cried.

"I know, but it's the only way it'll get better," Gabriel said.

Michael approached Sam on the other side of him. "Sam, I promise, I will be as quick as I can, and when I'm done, it'll feel a little better."

"It's okay. Just squeeze my hand. It will be quick," Gabriel promised.

Sam squeezed his father's hand as hard as he could and waited for the pain.

Michael placed a hand on his nephew's wing and allowed his Grace to flow through it.

Sam screamed as the pain increased by about fifty percent.

Michael took his hand away. "Okay, it's done. Some of thorn pieces are fusing back together. I should only have to do this one more time."

Sam groaned. "Again?"

"Yes, just one more time, but not for a few hours," Michael said.

"Then we can go home, and you can rest in your own bed," Gabriel told him.

"I'll be back later," Michael said before starting to leave.

"Wait. Michael?" Sam called.

"Yes, Sam," he answered.

"What's going to happen to those angels?" Sam wondered.

"I don't know yet, but I don't think mercy is a concept any of us can see right now," Michael said.

Gabriel lifted an eyebrow at Michael in surprise. What the hell was up with his brother. He'd killed Vashti and helped Sam, and now he seemed just as intend on getting justice as the rest of them. What was going on?

"You shouldn't worry about the fate of those angels. Whatever it is, they brought it on themselves," Michael said. He was sickened at the thought his nephew felt any kind of concern for those angels. He was sickened both at the angels and at himself. They'd believed Sam was a danger, but here Sam was worried about the lives of people who attacked him. How could they have ever thought he was a danger? How could Michael have?

"The only thing you need to worry about is healing, kiddo," Gabriel said.

"I should go now. Get some rest, Sam," Michael said before leaving the room.

"Dad?" Sam called out.

"Yeah."

"There was an Earthquake right after it all happened. Did I do it?" Sam asked. He felt like he must have. He felt a massive amount of power consuming his body when it happened. What had happened as a result? Had he hurt anyone?

"The Earthquake was the result of six seraphs launching a brutal attack. You're not to take the blame for anything that happened today," Gabriel said firmly.

"But…"

"Nope, no 'buts'. Nothing that happened was your fault. Now, I want you to go back to sleep. You need to rest," Gabriel said. He could see his boy's eyes fighting to stay open. He was obviously very tired.

"I am tired. It feels a lot like it does when I get done smiting," Sam said.

"You used a lot of power. I'm surprised you were even able to wake up on your own. Go on, go to sleep. I will be here when you wake up," Gabriel promised.

Sam finally gave up the fight to stay awake, and closed his eyes.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Michael walked down to the prison. Not long after leaving Sam and Gabriel, one of the guards asked to see him. Michael approached an angel standing just outside the door to the cells. "Caleb."

"Thank you for coming, sir. Thaddeus demanded that I get you, and he wouldn't shut up until I agreed," Caleb said.

Michael sneered as he thought about that little coward demanding anything after what he did. "I should be the last person he wants to see right now."

"May I ask what he and the others did? I can only guess that it would take a lot for a guard of Heaven to be imprisoned. It have anything to do with the chaos earlier?" Caleb asked.

"They attacked a fledgling, and they will all pay for that," was all Michael said before bypassing the guard and heading for the cells. He walked by the other bastards that were imprisoned with Thaddeus, all of whom had the good sense to back away in fear.

Michael stopped at the last cell on the right. "Just when I believe you people have reached the final level of stupidity, you demand my attention. Did my attention work so well for Vashti?"

"Why are we here? We did what should've been done from the start," Thaddeus said righteously.

"Which one of you was it? Which of you tore into his wing? Was it you? We both know how much you love to cause pain. Torture has always been your thing, and the more helpless, the better. Was it your idea? Were you the one who decided to go six seraphs against one fledgling?" Michael asked coldly.

"No, against a disgusting abomination!" Thaddeus snarled. "We did what should've been done the second he stepped one foot into this place. You should've done it. You would've if you hadn't turned into such a coward since Lucifer's return.

Michael reached through the bars and grabbed the angel around the back to one of his wings, causing the seraph to scream. "I'm a coward! You attacked a _child_. It doesn't get more cowardly than that, but somehow you managed to. You attacked him six against one. You sliced your blades through his wings!"

"He deserved it! He shouldn't exist!"

"And you think you should?" Michael asked before producing his blade. "I would love to do to you what I did to Vashti, after of course taking this blade and tearing your wings to shreds, just as you did to my little fledgling nephew. Do you know why I don't? Because your fate will be public. Because we are going to make an example of you," he said before pushing the seraph away from him and addressing the rest of them. "We will make examples out of all of you!"

There were several whimpers at the archangel's words.

"By the time we're finished with you, no one will dare touch that boy again! I will make sure that anyone who even considers it remember every last one of you, and they will shudder to think of the same fate being delivered to them!" Michael vowed before storming away.


	17. Chapter 17

Lucifer walked into the infirmary and found Gabriel still sitting by Sam's side, not that he expected his brother to be anywhere else. "Hey."

Gabriel turned towards his brother. "Hey."

"How is he?" Lucifer asked.

"He's doing okay. He's been asleep most of the night. He's exhausted," Gabriel said.

"He used a lot of Grace," Lucifer said as he came closer. He noticed that Sam's wing had been healed some since the last time he'd seen him. "Mike healed him again, I see."

"Yeah. He should be back soon to finish up," Gabriel said.

"Listen, I said this to you already, but I swear these bastards are going to pay for this," Lucifer promised.

"I wanna know who they were," Gabriel said.

"Well, aside from Vashti, there was Thaddeus, Bartholomew, Asher, Jabez, and Nathaniel," Lucifer told him.

Gabriel nodded. "Aside from Thaddeus, who would torture anyone that crossed his path, each one of them is a Michael supporter."

"Michael didn't sanction this, Gabriel."

"I know that, but they did it for him," Gabriel said.

"Then they miscalculated. Michael in no way supported what happened. Gabriel, when he saw Sam on the ground with his wing torn, everything changed. He saw what you, Castiel, and I see. He saw someone he cared for. I know that's hard to believe, but he did," Lucifer said

"It might be if I hadn't seen it myself. He was here, and he was very kind and patient. It was very unlike Michael, at least of late," Gabriel said.

"Gabriel, that's why I let the training sessions continue after I found out. I watched them, and I could see the affect Sam was having on Michael. I thought it was best for that to continue," Lucifer explained.

Gabriel sighed. "I'm sorry, Lucifer. I shouldn't have said what I did to you the other day. I know you would never put Sam at risk just to keep Michael off your back."

"It's okay. I know you were just angry," Lucifer said.

"Honestly, Lucifer, I'm still pretty angry about it. You crossed a line," Gabriel said in a hard tone.

"I know," Lucifer said apologetically. He knew when he did it that he was crossing a line. He should've told Gabriel right away what was going on. But at the same time, he didn't regret what he did. Those training sessions helped Michael.

"You know, I don't expect you to come to me every time Sam confides in you. He should be able to count on you to keep his secrets, as long as they're small. This wasn't small. My son was being trained by someone who worked to kill him not too long ago. I had the right to know," Gabriel said.

Lucifer nodded.

"And I really, really resent having to find out from Metatron," Gabriel said.

"Metatron told you? How the hell did he find out?" Lucifer wondered.

"We ran into him that day," a new voice said.

They both looked over to see Michael several feet away.

Michael walked closer. "Metatron cornered Sam when he was on his way to see me. I didn't hear what he said to him, but I could take a guess. I sent Sam on his way and warned Metatron to stay away from him. I can only guess I gave something away while I was speaking to him."

"What led to you training my kid?" Gabriel asked.

Michael hesitated. "I think Sam should be the one to tell you. Just know that I didn't mean him any harm. I was trying to help him. At least towards the end I was."

Gabriel nodded after a minute.

"I'd need to finish healing him. Then, if you'll allow it, I'd like to speak to the both of you," Michael said.

"Give him a chance," Lucifer urged.

Gabriel thought about it for second. "We'll hear what you have to say, but that's all I can promise you."

Michael nodded. "Thank you."

Gabriel gently shook Sam's shoulder. "Sam? I need you to wake up for me, kiddo."

Sam groaned and slowly opened his eyes. "Dad?"

"Hey. Michael's here to finish healing you," Gabriel said.

"Already?" Sam whined.

Gabriel chuckled. "its been six hours, kiddo."

"This is the last time, Sam, I promise," Michael said as he walked over.

"Alright, just do it quick please," Sam said.

Gabriel grabbed his son's hand and nodded to Michael.

Michael placed his hand on Sam's wing and began healing it.

Sam cried out a bit from the pain, but not like before. It didn't hurt as bad this time.

Michael watched as the rest of Sam's feathers reattached to the rest of his wing. He then removed the Grace bindings that had been put on to keep it from moving. 'There, it's all healed."

"It still aches a little," Sam said.

"Yes, it will for a day or two, but it'll go away. Do you wanna try folding it in with the rest of your wings. It might hurt a little, but after it might feel more comfortable," Michael said.

Sam did as Michael suggested. It did hurt to move it, but after it felt better. He immediately shifted on the bed, so he was on his back.

"You doing okay?" Gabriel asked his son.

Sam nodded. He was much better now. Like he said, his wing still ached some, but it was much better.

"Do you think you can stay up for a little while. Michael would like to speak with us. But if you're too tired, you can go back to sleep. He can wait," Gabriel said.

"Absolutely," Michael agreed with Gabriel.

"No, I'm okay," Sam said.

"I'll leave you guys alone," Lucifer said as he started to leave.

Michael reached out and grabbed his brother by the arm. "No, don't. I have things I have to say to you too." He needed to do this all now. He needed to make it right with everyone he loved.

Lucifer nodded and gave his older brother his attention.

Michael decided to start with Lucifer. That was how it actually had started, so it made sense. "I didn't like humans anymore than you did. I saw them as flawed and lower than us. I still do. They're beneath us."

Sam opened his mouth to protest Michael's point, but then felt a firm hand on his shoulder. He looked up in time to see his father shake his head.

"But I couldn't do what you did. I couldn't rebel. I wanted to though, especially after Father ordered me to cast you into Hell. I didn't want to do it, Lucifer. I didn't!" Michael insisted.

"Then why did you?" Lucifer asked. He was trying very hard to sound bitter and angry, but he knew he was failing.

"It was Father's orders."

Lucifer rolled his eyes.

"No, please, let me finish. His will was going to be carried out one way or another," Michael said.

"Not by you. Not by my big brother," Lucifer said with hurt and anger laced in his voice.

"I…I was scared," Michael said. That was extremely hard for him to admit, even to himself. He'd spent centuries denying it. It worked out pretty well for him too. He could just blame Lucifer. He could tell himself that his brother was a monster who deserved to cast into Hell. He'd told himself that so much that he believed it in the end. But everything that happened with Sam forced him to accept the truth, about everything

"Of what?" he asked.

"Receiving your fate," Michael said quietly.

"What?" Gabriel asked in shock.

Michael turned towards the youngest archangel. "He was the favorite. You know that. We never said it out loud, but we all knew he was the favorite. If he could receive such a harsh punishment, what would happen to the rest of us?" Michael asked

Gabriel looked at Michael and then shook his head. He didn't have an answer for that.

"Michael, are you serious? All this 'Father says' crap was because you were afraid?" Lucifer asked in disbelief.

"Not exactly. I did want to be a good son. I wanted Father's approval, and I wanted him to come home. I thought if I did what he wanted, he would. But, yes, I was afraid. I didn't like that feeling, so I pushed it away. I told myself that you were just evil. That you deserved what you got. It wasn't exactly hard because I did blame you. I thought to myself, if you just pretended like the rest of us, everything would've been fine. Our family wouldn't have been broken," Michael explained

"Oh, Dad. I don't even know what to say, Michael," Lucifer said. He hadn't expected this. He never imagined that Michael had been hurt by everything that happened.

"I don't either. All I can really say is that I'm sorry. You know, I couldn't really face the way it really was until our last conversation. You told me I had to stop seeing things the way Father wanted them, and you were right. I had to find another way to go on than for him, and to do that, I had to face it all. "I don't expect you to forgive me, Lucifer, but I needed you to know that I'm sorry."

"Well, whether you expect it or not, you're going to take forgiveness, because I want my brother back," Lucifer said before throwing his arms around his older brother.

Michael was shocked to find himself engulfed in his brother's arms, but he recovered quickly and hugged Lucifer back. "I want that too."

Lucifer pulled away after a minute. "Alright, I'm gonna leave the three of you alone now. I have some things I need to take care of."

Michael nodded. He knew the truth. Lucifer hated looking vulnerable. He wanted to return to his office, so he could adequately lose himself.

Lucifer looked over at Sam. "Sam, I'm glad you're feeling better. I'll come by your place later to check on you."

"Thanks," Sam said before watching his uncle leave.

Michael turned to his younger brother and nephew. "I wronged the two of you more than I ever could Lucifer. Gabriel, I missed you so much. When I heard you'd left, I was devastated. I wasn't sure if you were alive or dead."

"Don't expect an apology there," Gabriel said harshly.

"I don't. I'm trying to give you one. I can't deny that I was angry with you for leaving. I felt that you'd abandoned us. I couldn't let myself see that I'd pushed you away. You left because of me," Michael said somberly.

"I left because of both of you. You and Lucifer were both dumbasses," Gabriel said.

"Maybe, but I'm the one that cost you the most. Sam told me not too long ago that I cost him you. He was right. You gave up your son because you thought I'd hurt him. You weren't wrong. I probably would have," Michael said.

"Probably? You attempted to kill my son!" Gabriel snarled.

"And there's nothing that I will ever regret more," Michael said sincerely.

"Seriously?" Sam asked in disbelief. He never thought he'd ever hear those words from Michael. The archangel hadn't been shy about what he thought of him. Then again, now that Sam thought back, Michael had been strangely nice to him since he was got hurt. When he was on the ground in that room, he even recalled Michael calling him 'little one'. When had Michael changed his mind about him.

"Yes, Sam. I am so sorry for how I treated you. I'm sorry for my role in what happened to you. If I had been a proper uncle, it wouldn't have happened. I couldn't see you for you really are before. All I saw was what I was taught about Nephilims. I couldn't see my baby brother's son. I couldn't see the kind little fledgling that you are," Michael said with a sad smile.

Sam crossed his arms and grumbled. "I hate that word."

Michael chuckled a little. "It's what you are, Sam. And because it is, I should've protected you, not tried to hurt you. I'm so sorry for that. I don't expect it right now, but I hope one day you can forgive me."

"Well, if you've changed your mind, does that mean we can go home?" Sam asked hopefully. He wanted to go back to Earth. He wanted to be with Dean again.

"Son…" Gabriel started.

"May I, Gabriel?" Michael interrupted.

Gabriel nodded.

Michael pulled a chair over and sat on the other side of nephew. "Sam, I'd hope that you'd come to see this place as your home, but I can see why that would be difficult, especially after last night."

"You're gonna say 'no', aren't you?" Sam asked in a devastated voice.

"Yes, but I need you to understand why. I know you think I made my deal with Lucifer out of spite. That's not true. I honestly did it because I was afraid of the danger you would pose to mankind," Michael explained.

"But you said you changed your mind," Sam argued.

"Yes, I did. I no longer believe you'd purposely hurt anyone. I've seen for myself that you wouldn't. You've showed concern for those who hurt you. You even refused to fight back when they came after you," Michael said.

"What?" Gabriel asked with an edge to his voice.

Michael cringed. He hadn't meant to inform on his nephew. He hadn't even considered that Gabriel didn't know that part.

Sam looked up at his father guiltily.

"We will be discussing this later," Gabriel said sternly.

"Sam, while I know you wouldn't hurt anyone intentionally, you could be accident, and that would destroy you. I can't allow that. I swore I would not allow you to be hurt again. That includes terrible guilt that would destroy you. You would hate yourself if you hurt someone, especially if it was someone you cared about," Michael said.

"But I could be trained," Sam said.

"Yes, and you need to be."

"So after that, I could see Dean, right?"

"Son, by the time you're fully trained, Dean's life will have ended, and he'll be here," Gabriel said.

"It… It'll take that long?" Sam asked wide-eyed.

Michael nodded. "You're very young, and your power is great. Already, you have more power in one finger than a dozen seraphs, and that power will only continue to grow."

"He's right," Gabriel said gently. He'd seen proof of how powerful his boy was when that Earthquake hit. As much as he hated to do this to his son, he couldn't deny that it was best that Sam not be on Earth. It would kill the boy if he accidently hurt someone.

Sam looked down in defeat and nodded.

"Alright, I'm going to go. Thank you both for listening to me," Michael said before standing up and heading out of the room.

Gabriel followed his brother out. "Michael?"

Michael turned to face his brother.

"I appreciate everything you said in there, and what you've done for my son since he was hurt, but I can't forgive you right now," Gabriel said.

"I understand," Michael said.

"You tried to kill my son. You don't just get to say sorry and it goes away," Gabriel said in a hard tone.

"I know. I just hope that one day you won't hate me for it anymore," Michael said.

"Michael, I don't hate you. It would be so much easier if I did. I couldn't be so hurt by you if I hated you. But I can't forgive you, not now. But unlike humans, we have all the time in the world, so that will probably change one day," Gabriel said. It was the best he could offer his brother right now.

Michael nodded and walked away. He knew it was the best he'd get right now.


	18. Chapter 18

Gabriel opened his door to find Castiel on the other side. "Hey, Cas, come on in."

"Hello, brother," Castiel said before stepping inside. "Lucifer said you'd left the infirmary. I trust Sam is doing better?"

"Yeah, he's fine," Gabriel said as he closed the door behind him. "His wing is healed. It's still a little sore, but he's gonna be okay. He's sleeping now. He spent most of the day after we got back yesterday asleep. He was still pretty tired after the use of so much Grace.

Castiel nodded. "I'm glad he's doing better."

"How'd it go with Dean and Bobby?" Gabriel asked.

"Better than I expected. Dean only used five profanities after I told him. I expected more," Castiel said.

Gabriel chuckled a little. "You told Sam was okay though, right?"

"Yes. I didn't go into details with how badly Sam was hurt. I simply explained that he was attacked and that his injuries were being healed," Castiel said.

"I'm surprised he was satisfied with that," Gabriel said.

"I wouldn't call him satisfied, but he accepted it when I told him that the wounds were superficial, and that those responsible would suffer the consequences," Castiel said.

"Damn straight," Gabriel said tightly.

"Have you been down to the prison to see them?" Castiel asked.

"I haven't left Sam's side. Besides, if I go down there, they won't live long enough to face judgement. While that's quite appealing, I need to make sure this never happens again. A public punishment is the only way to do that," Gabriel explained.

Castiel nodded. His brother's words were wise. Something had to teach the rest of Heaven that this wouldn't be allowed to happen again. "Uh, I told Dean that you'd come to see him again when you could, but he said he'd rather you didn't. He'd rather you not leave Sam on his account again."

Gabriel sighed. "I hope you explained to him that this was not his fault."

"I did, as did Bobby. I think all he sees right now is that you weren't there to help Sam because you were with him. He's asked to go back to how it was before, with you staying away. He doesn't want the chance taken that this will happen again," Castiel said.

Gabriel nodded. Honestly, right now, even with Michael's support, he didn't want to leave Sam anyway. The idea of this happening again scared the hell out of him. Of course, thinking that made him feel like he was choosing one son over the other, but it was what Dean wanted. Hell, it was even before Sam got hurt. "As long as he keeps his promise."

"He said he would. And he promised he'd ask for help next time," Castiel said.

Just then, they both heard footsteps. Sam emerged seconds later.

Gabriel turned to his son. "Hey, kiddo. How are you doing?"

"I'm okay," Sam said.

"Does it still hurt?" Gabriel asked.

"A little but it's not bad. It's kind of like when your body's sore because you worked out too much," Sam said before turning to Cas. "Hey, Cas."

"Hello, Sam. I am glad to see you are doing better. I came to see you in the infirmary, but you were asleep."

"Yeah, that's all I really did for the last couple of days," Sam said. The power he used really took a lot out of him. The longest he was awake was when Michael was apologizing to them.

"You need anything, kiddo. You hungry?" Gabriel asked.

"Starving," Sam said. He hadn't eating since yesterday. His dad made him eat something before going to sleep, but even that wasn't that much. He was really hungry now.

Gabriel chuckled and snapped his fingers. "I figured you would be. There are some pancakes on the kitchen table."

Sam immediately darted out of the room.

"Is there anything else that the two of you need before I return to my garrison?" Castiel asked.

"No, thanks, bro. I appreciate all you've done so far. I really appreciate it," Gabriel said.

"Of course. I'll see you later," Castiel said before heading out of the room.

Gabriel went into the dining room to see Sam going to town on his breakfast. "Damn, kiddo, don't hurt yourself."

"I'm really hungry," Sam said before taking another bite.

"I can see that. You sure you're doing okay?" Gabriel asked before taking a seat across from his son.

"I'm fine. Like I said, it barely even hurts anymore," Sam said.

"That doesn't mean you're not still dealing with some stuff. You were attacked, son," Gabriel said seriously.

Sam shrugged. "It wouldn't be the first time. I was a hunter. I was attacked all the time. I'm alright. I just won't be stupid enough to trust an angel when he tells me something again."

"You were not stupid, Sam. You shouldn't have to go around thinking that the people around you are going to attack you. If you're told that your uncle wants to see you, you should be able to believe that person. Don't take any responsibility for this," Gabriel said.

"Okay, I'll try not to. Either way, I won't be so trusting next time."

"No next time. This isn't going to happen again, I promise," he said.

Sam nodded.

"You're sure you're okay? You don't need to talk about it more?" Gabriel asked.

Sam shook his head. "Like I said, I've been attacked before. And you, Lucifer, and Michael all promised you won't let it happen again. I'm okay."

"Okay. You think you're up to talk now?" Gabriel said.

"Isn't that what we're doing?" Sam asked with a chuckled. Then he got a look at his father's face, and he realized what he meant. He wanted to talk what had happened before Sam got hurt. "Do we have to?"

"Well, we don't have to right now, but eventually, yes. There's damage between us, son. We have to fix it. I promise, it will be different this time. I can't say that I won't get angry, but I won't scream," Gabriel promised.

Sam nodded reluctantly. Honestly, he shouldn't be so hesitant. He'd wanted to be able to explain himself. He was just worried about going back to how things were before he got hurt, where his father was so angry that he either screamed at him, or would barely talk to him. "I guess we should get it over with then."

"Okay. First thing's first. I shouldn't have reacted the way I did. You deserved my anger, but not to that extent. Not to the point where I couldn't even listen to what you'd have to say. The truth is, I was too angry to deal with you, and I was too angry to realize that. I'm going to do my best to make sure that doesn't happen again."

"Thanks," Sam said.

"Before we start, I need to know something. Were you afraid of me?" Gabriel asked.

"No," Sam said immediately. He might have worried about how angry his father was, but not in the way his dad was suggesting. "I know you wouldn't hurt me."

"Never. I don't ever want you to be afraid that I'd hurt you, nor that I'd abandon you out of anger. No matter what, neither of those things will ever happen." Gabriel swore.

"I know. I wasn't afraid of that. If anything, I was mad. You wouldn't listen. It was like…"

"Like John?" Gabriel interrupted.

Sam nodded. "He rarely listened either when he was pissed at me, which was often. I learned to yell back because it was the only way I had a prayer of being heard. I couldn't with you because you're usually different than him. I didn't want things to be like that with us."

"Neither do I. I'm so sorry, Sam. I never want to make you feel the way he did. I lost my temper and I made a mistake," Gabriel said.

Sam shrugged. "Well, it's not like you didn't have a right to be angry."

"No, but I should've listened to you. I will now. Tell me what happened."

"First, you should know that fire power isn't the only one I hid from you. I also have telekinesis. I didn't tell Michael either. Only Joshua knows."

Gabriel sighed. He was far from happy to hear that there was another power he was kept in the dark about, but at least Sam was being honest with him now. "Okay, thank you for telling me."

"The first time I saw Michael was in the garden. He was passing through and he said some things that made me angry. I nearly set him on fire. That's how I found out. He told me that I had to tell you," Sam explained.

"But you didn't. Why?" Gabriel asked.

"You won't like it," Sam warned.

"I don't like anything about this situation, Sam. Tell me," Gabriel spoke gently, yet with a slight firmness.

"It was partly to spite Michael for ordering me around," Sam said.

"You're right, I don't like it. Do you really think that's an acceptable reason to hide something so important from me?" Gabriel asked sternly.

Sam shook his head. "It wasn't the only reason. I would've told you after Michael forced me to train if it was. Dad, I nearly set Michael on fire. I was scared of it. I was afraid that I'd end up hurting someone if I used it. I just wanted to push it away."

"Son, that's why it needs to be trained. Once you have control of it, you won't have to worry so much about accidently hurting someone," Gabriel explained.

Sam nodded. "Michael told me that later. I didn't seek him out, you know? He found me the next day and realized I hadn't told you. He made me train with him. I know I could've told you and I wouldn't have had to, but I thought maybe it was for the best. I didn't want to train with you. I was terrified of hurting you," Sam explained.

Gabriel closed his eyes and sighed. He should've realized it was something like that. Sam had always been hesitant to train due to fear. It should've been obvious that that was why Sam chose to work with Michael instead of him. Gabriel had just been too angry to consider his son's reasons.

"I didn't want to lie to you, Dad, but I couldn't train with you. I would've been too afraid. It was hard even with Michael, and I wasn't afraid of hurting him. The thought actually appealed to me," Sam said.

"And how long did you think you'd be able to keep it from me? You had to know that I was going to find out eventually," Gabriel said.

"I was gonna tell you. I just wanted to wait until I had the ability completely trained." Sam said.

"In other words, you wanted to keep me in the dark until there was nothing I could do about it," Gabriel said unimpressed.

Sam bit his lip. It didn't sound so great when it was put that way.

"Is there anything else you wanna say?" Gabriel asked.

Sam shook his head.

"I'm glad you told me why you did it. I do understand that you were scared. But it's not an acceptable reason to lie to me. I'd hoped that you'd learned by now that there will never be an acceptable reason for you to lie to me," Gabriel said.

"But you would've stopped me from…"

"What I would've done is immaterial!" Gabriel said sharply. He wasn't yelling, but he did raise his voice a little. "You do not get to lie to me because you think you won't get your way."

Sam closed his mouth, realizing he was only making things worse for himself.

"As I was saying, lies are never going to be acceptable. They will only ever make the situation worse. You do realize that that's what made me the most angry, right? I was upset about the rest too, but the lies made me furious. We have had this conversation so many times. I'm starting to think you won't be happy until I never trust you again," Gabriel lectured.

"No, Dad, that's not what I want," Sam said.

"What have I told you about lying? What have I told you it means?" Gabriel asked.

"That you can't trust me," Sam said quietly.

"Uh huh, and you promise never to do it again. Then the second I start to believe you, the lies come back. What do you think that tells me?" Gabriel asked sternly

Sam looked down at his hands in shame.

"Eyes up," Gabriel ordered. He waited until his son was looking at him again. "Lying to me over and over makes me think that you have no respect for me. Is that the case?"

"No," Sam said immediately. "I'm sorry, Dad. What can I do?"

"Right now, nothing. As I have repeatedly told you, trust will have to be earned back. Unfortunately, because this has happened before, it's going to take you even longer to earn it back. But we'll have plenty of time for that because aside from training, you won't be leaving this house for a long time," Gabriel said firmly.

Sam immediately opened his mouth to protest. He'd hoped the punishment he'd received would change after his father admitted he overreacted.

"If you can give me a legitimate reason for not being punished, I'm more than willing to listen," Gabriel interrupted when he saw his son go to speak. "But that reason better not have anything to do with you your age."

Sam closed his mouth and remained silent.

"That's what I figured. We've been over the age issue, haven't we? What did I say?" Gabriel asked.

"That you'd treat me how I acted," Sam said.

"That's right. Plus, the truth is, here, you are a child. I know you don't like hearing that, but it's the truth, and I honestly think that's part of why it's so hard for you to learn from your mistakes. Your Grace is still very young, and it makes you prone to foolish decisions.

Sam crossed his arms and had a sour look on his face. "How long am I… grounded?"

"I haven't decided yet. At least as long as the six weeks you lied to me for, possibly longer. I'll let you know," Gabriel said.

Sam groaned unhappily, but he didn't protest. He accepted that his fate was sealed. "What about training? Are you still going to make me train with you? I can't do it, Dad. I can't concentrate when I know I could hurt you."

Gabriel sighed. "Michael's a damn slave driver, you know?"

Sam smiled. "Yeah, I know, but I think that's what I need."

"I'll talk to him about it," Gabriel told him.

"Thanks."

"There are a couple of other things we need to talk about, like you not defending yourself against those angels. Now, I want you to understand that none of what happened is on you, but why didn't you defend yourself," Gabriel asked.

"Because I didn't want to prove them right. They attacked me because they were afraid of me," Sam said.

Gabriel shook his head. "No, they didn't. Not one of them was even the slightest bit afraid when they went after you. They tortured you. You don't do that out of fear, you do that because you wanna hurt someone. They were trying to punish you for existing. They didn't care whether you were a threat to them or not."

Sam flinched slightly at his father's words. It bothered him to hear about how much of a freak those angels thought he was. It bothered him because at times he still considered himself to be one. He wasn't human or an angel. He was a mixture of both, and because of that, he was hated.

"Hey. They're wrong. I don't want you to give any thought to what they think of you. They are nothing. The people who care about you know how special you are. Me, Cas, Lucifer, and now even Michael. Think about that, Sammy. Michael screamed the loudest about you, but all it took was six weeks for you to win him over," Gabriel said.

Sam nodded. That was true. Michael had been the most against his existence, but then he'd been the one to heal him when he was hurt. He'd sat by his side and tried comfort him and make him feel better. The fact that the oldest archangel was now by his side had to mean something, right?

"Listen, I know you don't want the angels to fear you. I understand that, but when someone hurts you, you have to defend yourself. I need you to promise me that Dad forbid this happens again, you will fight back to the best of your ability. No one that matters is going to hold it against you," Gabriel assured him.

"Okay. I promise," Sam said.

"Good. Now, there's one more thing we have to talk about," Gabriel said.

"I…I don't think I've done anything else," Sam said.

Gabriel chuckled. "No, you haven't. You need to know why I wasn't here when you were hurt." He originally hadn't intended to tell Sam about Dean. It would only cause more heartache. But he'd just finished chastising Sam about honesty. If he wanted the truth from Sam, he had to give him the same courtesy.

"Dad, it doesn't matter. It's fine. It probably would've happened either way," Sam said.

Well, that's open for debate, but that's not the point of this. I need to tell you where I was. I was on Earth with Dean," Gabriel said.

Sam's whole body stiffened. He knew if his father had gone to see Dean, something must have happened to him. His father wouldn't have just broken the promise he made to Dean otherwise. "What happened?"

Gabriel quickly explained what Castiel told him, plus what he'd learned from Dean when he got to him. "He's okay, son. He's probably already been released from the hospital.

"But he didn't take help because of me. I don't want him to refuse help," Sam said.

"I know. I told him that. He promised that he'd take help from now on if he needs it," Gabriel said.

"But what if he breaks that promise?" Sam asked.

"Then I will deal with it," Gabriel said in a firm tone.

Sam sighed. "It's not fair. I should be down there with him. I should at least be able to see him sometimes and let him know that I'm okay with him working with other hunters."

"I'm sorry, kiddo. But what Michael told you yesterday wasn't wrong. Your powers are going to continue to grow. It won't be safe for you to leave here until you have control over them. It honestly won't be as long as it seems. Dean will be here before you know it," Gabriel told him.

"I think I wanna be alone for a little while," Sam said before standing up and heading for his room.


	19. Chapter 19

Castiel stood with Balthazar in the assembly room, as they and the rest of the angels waited for the archangels to arrive. Today, the angels who attacked Sam would be sentenced. Normally, when angels were judged, it was privately, but Lucifer wanted to make an example out of them. He wanted to make sure no one ever attempted something like this again.

"How do you reckon this is going to go, Cas?" Balthazar asked.

"The last angel that went after Sam was relieved of most of his Grace and sent to a human prison. Another was set to Hell to be tortured. This is unlikely to be any better. Lucifer will not know mercy after what happened to Sam," Castiel said. He didn't blame the archangel either. Those angels hadn't shown Sam any mercy when they attacked him. What they'd done to him was reprehensible.

"I doubt it's just him either. Gabriel's likely to be livid. He won't rest until he has their heads, I'm sure. I've even heard that Michael is less than pleased. There's a rumor he went down to the prison and promised vengeance to all five of them," Balthazar said. He wasn't sure if that one was true. After all, it wasn't that long ago that Michael agreed with those angels regarding the young fledgling."

Castiel nodded. He'd heard that rumor as well. He'd also seen for himself that Michael was indeed angry about what happened with Sam. He'd heard a few things come from the archangel when he'd go to check in with Lucifer. "It appears that Michael's views have changed. That's likely another reason why this hearing will be public. They went everyone to know where Michael stands."

"It's going to be bad, Castiel. Harming a fledgling has never been something to be taken lightly," Balthazar said. He'd never seen it personally, but he'd heard the stories about what would happen in the rare occasion when someone was stupid enough to go after a fledgling.

A snort could be heard next to them, followed by a sarcastic voice. "Yeah, a fledgling."

Balthazar peered over at the angel who spoke and glared. "No one asked you, Metatron."

"The little abomination got what he deserved," Metatron said.

Castiel narrowed his eyes and took a step towards the angel. "You've been told not to use that word. Sam did nothing to those angels!"

"Existing is enough," Metatron sneered.

"You know, I'd suggest you pay very close attention to what happens to those idiots today. It's angels like you that the message the archangels are about to send is meant for," Balthazar said.

Metatron glared and walked away from them.

"Why'd they bring that idiot back? He was better off where he was," Balthazar said to Castiel.

"He was unjustly driven away. Lucifer wanted to rectify the situation. He's hardly the only one to have that opinion about Sam. He's just one of the more vocal ones," Castiel said.

Just then, Sam and Gabriel walked over. Gabriel was dressed unusually formal. He had on a dark blue business suit. "Hey, guys,"

"Hello, Gabriel. Hi, Sam," Castiel said.

"Brother, little nephew," Balthazar greeted.

Sam nodded to them and then looked around the room. Pretty much every angel was staring at him, just like they always were when he passed them. It was more unnerving to see so many of them though.

Gabriel put a hand on his son's shoulder. "You don't have to be here if you don't want to be. You can go home."

Sam shook his head. "I should be here. This entire thing is about me."

"Alright. I need to go find Michael and Lucifer. Stay with Castiel please," Gabriel said before walking away.

"How are you, Sam?" Castiel asked.

"Okay. Dad's barely letting me out of his sight though. I think he's still scared about what happened," Sam said.

"What happened was frightening," Castiel said.

"What do you think will happen?" Sam asked. He didn't like this whole thing. He didn't want some big commotion made about what happened. For that reason, he'd tried to ask his dad to show some kind of mercy. He just didn't want people scared and suffering because of him. Needless to say, he'd been shot down. Neither his dad or his uncles were very forgiving right now.

"I don't know, but with three angry archangels, it won't be pleasant for those involved.

Sam sighed and nodded. "Dad said you saw Dean. Is he okay?"

Castiel was a bit surprised. He didn't think Gabriel had any intention of telling Sam about what happened with Dean. "Yes. He was very angry about what happened to you though. He too wants those responsible to suffer. I promised him that no mercy would be given out.

"Attention, Everyone!" a voice suddenly boomed.

Everyone turned to see Lucifer at the podium. Michael and Gabriel stood directly behind him.

Lucifer snapped his fingers and the five angels awaiting sentencing appeared to his left in shackles. "Thank you. Unfortunately, we are all here today because a great injustice was performed against a fledgling.

While his brother spoke, Gabriel stared venomously at the five angels that attacked his son. It was taking every single piece of Grace that made up his existence not to torture and kill them right now.

Michael placed a hand on his younger brother's shoulder, both to restrain him and to comfort him. He just hoped Gabriel wouldn't pull away.

Gabriel eyed Michael gratefully. He had so many issues with his older brother, but right now, he was glad Michael was there helping him.

Lucifer, meanwhile, went on speaking. "The last thing I want is to rule you all with fear or to punish harshly, however, I cannot allow this to go without severe consequences. Actions need to be taken to ensure that nothing like this happens again. I was very clear on the subject of our nephew. No one would hurt him, and if they tried, they would be punished.

Lucifer turned and gave the accused angels a withering glare. "Apparently some of you didn't believe me."

"May I speak, brother? After all, I carry some responsibility here," Michael said.

Lucifer nodded and stepped away, allowing Michael to take his place.

Michael stepped up to the podium. "I feel that may not have happened if not for my own views on the matter. I told all of you to stand down and follow Lucifer's law, including regarding Young Sam. However, you all knew it was mostly show. You knew my feelings on the matter remained the same. I am certain that is why these traitors decided they had the right to attack him. Perhaps I am as guilty as them, and I must live with that"

Michael stopped for a moment and stepped towards the angels on trial. "Despite my mistaken views on the matter, you knew you were to follow Heaven's rules. If you thought I'd save you from judgment, you were gravely mistaken. In fact, I was the one who suggested your fate," he said before going back to the podium. "I no longer wish to be misunderstood. Sam Winchester is my nephew and I love him. I will not allow anyone to harm him again!"

Sam stood shocked at Michael's words. Michael had said he accepted him the last time they spoke, but he never said he loved him. Was it just show for the angels? Sam found that hard to believe. Michael's words seemed sincere.

Gabriel stepped up next to address those that attacked his kid. "I would love nothing more than to see all of you die painfully. That would've been my first choice for your punishment. But I realize now that that would be too easy. You die, you go to the Empty and there's no more pain. You don't get to get off that easy. I want you to suffer. You will damn well suffer!"

Lucifer motioned for his two brothers to step back and took his place once more. "As I said, I have no desire to entice fear in all of you. While the punishment of these five angels is steep, it is reserved for the most heinous of crimes. In fact, it is a punishment I would never have thought to dole out before. It was not an easy decision to make to do so now." When Michael had first brought this idea up, he'd shot it down. It was very harsh. But after thinking about it, he realized he needed to be harsh. He needed to make a point out of these angels.

The five seraphs looked terrified. They hadn't yet learned their fate, but if a punishment seemed almost too harsh for the devil, it had to terrible.

Lucifer turned to the guilty angels. "You've all admitted what you've done, some even gleefully, so there's no need to determine innocence or guilty. You are guilty, and you will face dire consequences. As punishment for torturing a fledgling, you will spend the next century in Purgatory."

Sam listened as shocked and terrified whispers rang out throughout the room. No one was unaffected by the announcement. "Cas, what's Purgatory?"

"The most awful place you can bloody well think of," Balthazar said in bewilderment.

"It's where most supernatural creatures go when they've been killed. No angel has ever been sent there," Castiel said. He too was shell shocked. He knew the punishment would be severe, but he didn't imagine this. Those angels deserved it, but he just didn't see it coming. At worst, he thought maybe they'd be sent to the Cage.

"What will happen to them there?" Sam asked.

"They'll be at constant war. Those things won't take angels in their paths lightly," Balthazar said.

"Quiet please!" Lucifer said. He waited for everyone to quiet down before addressing the terrified angels to his right again. "At the end of your sentence, if you are still alive and have repented, you will be welcome to return home. I suggest you consider this during your punishment. Should you have a moment of piece in such a warzone, that is."

"No!"

"You can't!"

"Please, don't!"

Lucifer ignored their pleas and snapped his fingers, sending them back to their cells until he could send them to their new destination. Then he turned to his audience. "Again, this isn't something that was decided lightly, but I hope you will all remember this moment should any of you think of committing the same offence. That's all."

The frantic chatter began again over what had just occurred. Everyone seemed shocked and frightened.

Even Metatron seemed sort of nervous. He never expected this outcome when he convinced Vashti to make a move on the Nephilim. He didn't particularly care about what happened to those angels, but it did make him overly grateful that he wasn't caught. It also made him realize that he'd have to be careful with anything he might try in the future.

Meanwhile, Gabriel made it back down to Sam. He placed a hand on his shoulder. "You ready to go home."

"Dad, I don't want this. I don't want people to get hurt because of me. Is this really necessary," Sam said.

"Their fate is on them, not you. They know how seriously harming a fledgling is taken. And, yes, it had to happen. An example had to be made. Come on, let's go home. We can talk about it more there if you'd like," Gabriel said before leading his son away by the shoulder.


	20. Chapter 20

About a week later, Sam was sitting in the kitchen with his dad having breakfast. Afterwards, Sam would be training with Michael. It would be the first session since his attack.

"Are you sure you're ready for this? You can give it a few more days if you need to," Gabriel said.

"No, I'm fine. I was ready to start up again days ago, but you wouldn't let me," Sam said with a slight grumble.

"You needed to take time to recover. I didn't want you overexerting yourself," Gabriel said.

"Well, I'm fine now," Sam assured him.

"Alright. Let's talk about how things are going to go with Michael. As you know, Michael and I both agreed that he would train you, but for the first few sessions, I'll be observing," Gabriel said. He knew his son wouldn't be happy about the last part, but he was going to have to deal with it. Gabriel didn't fully trust Michael yet.

Sure enough, Sam immediately began to argue. "No, Dad. I can't train when you're there."

"Well, you're going to have to in the beginning," Gabriel said.

"But…"

"It's not up for discussion, son. You either do it this way or you train with me. Those are your only options. I am not ready to just hand Michael the reigns without some supervision," Gabriel said firmly.

"Michael said he'd changed his mind. You don't believe him?" Sam asked.

"If I didn't believe him, I wouldn't even consider allowing him to train you. Yes, I believe him, or at least most of me does. But trust isn't easy after years of being afraid of what he'd do to you, especially when those fears have been reinforced by his actions. Right now, I still see him wanting to hurt you. I know he doesn't, but I can't just forget everything he did," Gabriel explained.

Sam nodded that he understood. "Well, can't Cas or Lucifer watch us then?" He didn't want it to seem like he didn't want his dad around. He was just always on edge when his dad was there for his training. He became worried he'd hurt him.

"They both have their own responsibilities. Besides, it's not just about Michael. I don't really feel comfortable with you being anywhere that I'm not right now. I know that's something I need to get over, but it's going to take a little while," Gabriel said.

"Do you think someone else will try something?" Sam asked. After the sentence Lucifer handed down, he wasn't sure why anyone would try to hurt him again. He'd heard whispers from other angels. They were terrified of receiving the same fate as those who attacked Sam.

"I don't know, but I'd rather not test it right now," Gabriel said.

"How long are you gonna watch my training?" Sam asked.

"Until I'm comfortable with you being without me. I will do my best not to make it too long, but I need you to have patience," Gabriel said kindly.

Sam nodded and went back to his food. He didn't like it, but he understood why his father was concerned.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Michael was already waiting in the training room when his brother and nephew arrived. "Hello, Sam. Are you sure you want to start up today? We can wait."

Sam almost groaned at everyone treating him like he was fragile after one incident. "I'm fine. I want things to get back to normal.

Michael turned to Gabriel. "I know you said you are going to watch. That's fine, you know how I am during training. I need to be sure you won't interrupt."

Gabriel rolled his eyes at his older brother. "Yeah, I know you can be an asshole when you think a student isn't doing well enough. Just don't go too far with it and I'll stay out of the way," he said before going over the wall by the door. He conjured up a chair and made himself comfortable.

Michael turned back to Sam. "So, your father told me you have another power you failed to mention to me before.

Sam winced a little. "Yes, I have telekinesis. I've been practicing it on my own when I have time. Look, I didn't tell you because at the time, I didn't want to train with you any longer than necessary. I know it wasn't the smartest thing to do."

"No, but I understand. Plus, I know Gabriel has already impressed upon you why it was a bad idea. I see no reason to berate you further," Michael said.

Sam smiled gratefully at him.

"However, if I'm going to train you, you cannot keep powers from me. I expect you to inform me when discover a new ability from now on," Michael said firmly.

"I don't think I need to tell you that goes for me as well," Gabriel said in a similar tone.

Sam nodded to both of them. "I understand."

"Good. There's no reason to spoke of this any longer then. We should get started. Have you had a chance to practice locating your Grace?" Michael asked.

Sam cringed like a child about to be scolded. "No. Dad said not to use my Grace at all. He said to let it heal."

Michael nodded. He wasn't upset. He'd expected the answer to be no. he just wanted to be sure. "It's alright, Sam. Your father's right, it's probably for the best. We'll start with that now and you'll go back to doing it every day," he said before snapping his fingers.

Sam watched as a comfortable chair appeared. He immediately sat down got to work.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Metatron was pissed. He had been summoned by an angel. It wasn't even an archangel, just a regular seraph. Who was a seraph to demand his presence? He was God's scribe. He shouldn't answer to anyone but him, let alone a garden variety seraph. He thought of ignoring the summons, but he wanted to know what she wanted and why she thought she had the right to summon him.

Metatron walked into a big office and found who he was looking for behind a desk.

"You're five minutes late," the angel behind the desk said.

"I didn't need to be here at all, Naomi. Tell me what you want now or I'm leaving," Metatron said coldly.

"You're not going anywhere until I'm finished with you, Metatron. Not unless you want to be the subject of the next public trial," Naomi said.

Metatron sneered. "You can't do anything to me, Naomi. I am God's scribe!"

Naomi laughed mockingly. "You really think that title means anything? All it means is you were the only one was too worthless for anything else than to write down his word. You think your position means you were favored, but the truth is, he probably just took pity on you because you were good for nothing else."

"How dare you?!" Metatron seethed.

"We're losing focus. We should get back on point. I did call you here for a reason," Naomi said.

"I don't care what you have to say," Metatron said before heading for the door.

"I know you were the one who organized the attack on the Nephilim," Naomi called after him.

Metatron had just opened the door when he heard her. He immediately froze. How the hell had she known that? He had been careful when he explained his plan to Vashti. He made sure no one had overheard him. The only way Naomi could know is if the idiot told her what his plan was.

"I suggest you close the door. You wouldn't want anyone else to hear about what you've done, would you?" Naomi asked.

Metatron shut the door and turned to her. "I don't know what you're talking about. Those involved in that attack were caught and punished."

"Yes, brutally so. And it wasn't even their idea. What do you suppose will happen should everyone find out you put the idea in their heads?"

"You can't prove any of this," Metatron said.

Naomi smiled at him smugly. "Of course, I can. All it would take is a little poke in your brain to pry the information out. But why bother when I don't need to. I don't need to prove a thing. All I have to do is whisper into Gabriel's ear and your done. For that matter, Michael and Lucifer's ears would work pretty well too."

Metatron hated it, but she wasn't wrong. All it would take was an accusation, especially considering he hadn't even tried to hide how he felt about the abomination. The bitch had him. "What do you want?"

"Tell me something before I answer that. Did you really think you could kill a Nephilim? You gloat so much about being God's scribe, but you didn't realize that a Nephilim has more power than an army of us?" Naomi asked.

"He's just a fledgling right now," Metatron said. There was no reason to deny it. She knew what he'd done. She wasn't going to tell. She wanted something from him.

"And yet that fledgling literally shook Heaven's walls. You're an idiot if you thought six angels could take him out," she said.

"What do you want?" Metatron asked her again.

"Everything," Naomi said with a smirk. "Why settle on just one demand when I can get whatever I want from you for as long as I want.

Metatron glared at her. Unfortunately, that was the only thing he could do. She had him under her thumb.

"That look on your face is utterly satisfying. "So, the first thing you're going to do is abandon your plans for the Nephilim. I know you have some. You'll get rid of any thoughts of it," Naomi said in a hard tone.

"What do you care what happens to the little bastard? Do you have some kind of plan yourself?" Metatron asked suspiciously.

"That's none of your concern. Go. I'll let you know when I need you," Naomi dismissed.

"What happened to it being stupid to try killing the thing?" Metatron asked rhetorically before heading out of the room.

Naomi smiled once he was gone. "Who said anything about killing him?


	21. Chapter 21

Sam was bored. It had been a month since he had been grounded and he was still stuck in the house except for training. Unfortunately, his training session had been cancelled for the day. Michael had had other matters to attend to with Lucifer for the day. Sam's father was also helping with those things. So, Sam was stuck in the house by himself bored out of his mind. He wished he could go for a walk or something, but he still wasn't allowed.

Sam was pulled from this thoughts by the sound of a knock at the door. He got up from the couch and answered it. He was surprised to see that Michael was there. "Hi, Michael. Come on in."

"Hello, Sam," Michael said before walking past the young Nephilim."

"What are you doing here? My dad isn't home. I thought he was with you and Lucifer," Sam said.

"Yes, and as far as I know, he's still with Lucifer. I came because I wanted to apologize for having to cancel training today. Lucifer, your father, and I have been working lately to make things better around here, starting with finding the rest of the angels that fell," Michael said. He had never cared about that when he was in charge. He'd seen those that left as traitors. He wouldn't go looking for them, and if he came across them, he would've punished them severely. But he'd since realized his mistakes. He was trying to do better.

"Are there a lot of them?" Sam wondered.

"In the grand scheme of things, no. There are maybe a handful, but finding them is proving difficult. I had to cancel today's session because we located one," Michael said.

"Did you get them to come back?" Sam wondered.

Michael shook his head sadly. "We were unsuccessful. He didn't trust us, especially me, and decided he wasn't ready to come home. We decided not to push the issue. Hopefully, he'll change his mind one day." He had wanted to push the issue a bit further. He just didn't think it was appropriate for an angel to be on Earth. But Lucifer had made it clear that force would not be used. He didn't think it would help any of their siblings to see that things were changing. Reluctantly, Michael had to agree that his brother was right.

"It's good that you didn't force him," Sam said.

"I cannot deny being tempted. I am trying to learn from my mistakes, but it's not easy to stop a habit. I am trying to do better though," Michael said.

"You are, Michael. I've seen how much you've changed. You went from hating everything about me to telling a room full of angels that you loved me. I know you might have just said that to make a point, but I do know that the way you think of me has changed," Sam said.

"I didn't say what I did to prove a point to anybody. I spoke the truth," Michael told him. He didn't want his nephew thinking even for a moment that what he'd said was false. He loved him. That feeling had snuck up on him, but it was nonetheless accurate.

"You love me? Just a few weeks before you said that, you hated me," Sam said in disbelief.

Michael shook his head. "No, I never hated you. I didn't see you for who you were, but I didn't hate you. I saw you as an entity that shouldn't have been created. I saw you as an example of the blatant disobedience of my father's will. I didn't hate you, but I didn't like that you existed. Now, when I look back, I don't see how I could ever have thought anything like that."

"What changed? It couldn't just be me being hurt," Sam said. He knew him getting hurt had affected Michael, but he had to believe that something happened even before that. The archangel couldn't have just all of a sudden started caring at that moment.

"No. That's just when I noticed the change. That's when I was finally sort it out in my own head. I'd say things started to change for me when you forced my own logic on me. You fought my own beliefs by using my other belief that Free Will isn't real. It was hard to refute it," Michael said with a warm, prideful smile.

Sam laughed a little and went over to the couch and sat down. "I didn't even realize that had an impact on you. I figured you'd ignored it right after hearing it."

"Oh, believe me, I tried," Michael said as he walked over and sat down with his nephew. "But it's hard to refute your own logic when it's thrown at you. That's when, without realizing it, I let myself start to get to know you. By the time you were attacked, I already loved you."

"Uh… Thanks," Sam said. He wasn't sure what else to say. He was kind of floored. Even if he knew Michael's opinion of him had changed, he couldn't believe that Michael could actually have come to love him in such a short amount of time.

Just then, the door opened and Gabriel, Lucifer, and Castiel stepped in. "Hey, Mike. We've been looking for you."

"Yes, I came to offer Sam my apologies for having to cancel our appointment," Michael said.

"Hey, Lucifer, Cas. What are you guys doing here?" Sam wondered.

"I've declared tonight family night, Sammy. We could all use some unwinding time, and I know you're getting antsy, so we're gonna do some bonding," Gabriel said with a smile.

Michael got up from his seat. He decided that was his cue to leave. He knew he wouldn't be welcome to stay. While it bothered him, he certainly understood it. He had to earn everyone's forgiveness.

"Where are you going, Mikey. Last I knew, you were family," Gabriel said as eh watched his brother start to leave. He'd far from forgiven Michael, but his older brother had proved every day that he was trying to change. The least Gabriel felt he could do was show that he recognized that by including him.

"Are you sure you want me here?" Michael asked in surprise.

"I said we were looking for you. What did you think we wanted you for?" Lucifer asked.

"Yeah, stay, Michael, Please," Sam said. He added his puppy eyes for good measure.

Michael gasped at the look his nephew was giving him. "You inherited that look from your father! That's not right. One person shouldn't have that look, let alone two."

Gabriel snickered in response. "So, you're staying then. We both know no one can resist that look."

"I would've stayed anyway, but yeah, you're right," Michael said.

"Good. Let's go to the kitchen. I'm making dinner," Gabriel said.

"You're gonna make those human meat slabs again, right?" Lucifer asked hopefully.

"You mean stake? Yeah, sure, bro," Gabriel said with a smirk.

Michael frowned a little as they all traveled to the kitchen. "But we don't need to eat."

"It doesn't mean we can't. Food's good. Even Lucifer likes it," Gabriel said as he snapped up some uncooked stakes. Stakes were one thing he didn't snap up already cooked. They were not the same as when actually cooked. He had a stove that he used his Grace to make work in Heaven.

"Yeah, it turns out humans have their uses. They actually created decent food," Lucifer said.

"Frame this moment. Lucifer just admitted humans aren't completely useless," Gabriel joked.

"Yes, they're just mostly useless," Lucifer said completely serious.

Sam rolled his eyes as his uncle's comment as he, Michael, Lucifer, and Castiel took seats at the table.

Castiel sat as far away from Michael as he could, next to Lucifer and Sam. He knew Michael was changing, but he still didn't feel comfortable around the archangel.

Seeing his Cas's discomfort, Sam nudged Michael and sent him a look.

Michael frowned at his nephew. Sam was acting a bit strange. He seemed to want to say something, but he wasn't saying it. "Sam, what's wrong? Do you need to tell me something?"

Gabriel turned to his son in concern, wanting to know what was going on. "Sam?"

Sam grew frustrated now that all eyes were on him. He hoped his uncle would get the point, but he seemed agonizingly oblivious. Before Sam knew what was happening, his thoughts got away from him. _'You should apologize to Cas.'_

Michael was caught by surprise, not because of what Sam said, but because he hadn't actually said it. It was like the thought was thrown at him, which was strange because he could never hear Sam's thoughts in the past. Apparently, however, Sam had the ability to push his thoughts out when he wanted to.

"Did you hear me?" Sam asked.

"Yes," Michael answered.

"Here what?" Lucifer asked.

"What the hell's going on?" Gabriel demanded to know.

Michael smiled. "It seems Sam has discovered a new power. He can shove his thoughts out at whomever he chooses."

"He said something to you?" Lucifer asked. He hadn't heard a word. He just saw the strange looks on Sam's face directed towards Michael.

"Uh, I certainly hope this doesn't happen often," Sam said. He was happy to know no one could hear his thoughts. Well, except for Chuck, of course. The thought of anyone hearing his thoughts was more than a little off putting.

"Well, it only happened now because you had something you wanted to say to me, so I don't think it'll happen again unless you really want it to," Michael assured him.

"You okay, kiddo?" Gabriel asked. He wouldn't ask what was said because that was clearly something Sam wanted to say to Michael privately, but he at least wanted to know everything was okay.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Sam said. He was still a little weirded out by what just happened, but he was okay.

Michael turned to Castiel. Sam was right that he probably needed to make things right with the young seraph. He hadn't treated him right all, and Castiel mattered a lot, both to his siblings and his nephew. "Castiel, I owe you an apology."

"It isn't necessary," Castiel said quickly.

"It is. I was angry because you fell out of line. You disobeyed your superiors, which in turn meant to me that you were disobeying me. I couldn't see yet that I needed to disobeyed. AT the time, all I wanted was for everything to be over so that our father would return home. And I wanted everything to stop being on my shoulders. Truthfully, I hated being in charge," Michael said.

"You did?" Sam asked surprised. He probably shouldn't be interrupting him, but it shocked him so much that he couldn't help it. "But you fought Lucifer when he came to take your place.

"Because I thought it was my duty. Plus, I didn't realize then how much I hated my position. It wasn't until recently when it was no longer on my shoulders. I've felt free lately," Michael said before turning back to Castiel. "What I did to you was wrong. You didn't deserve to be cut off from Heaven, or tortured for disobedience. I even threatened you once you came back. I'm sorry, and I'm grateful to you for protecting Sam from me."

"Uh… Thank you," Castiel said. He couldn't' think of anything else to say.

About twenty minutes passed between all of them with quiet small talk before Gabriel came over with food and they all began to eat.


End file.
